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LEAVES 


FROM 


JULIANA    HORATIA    EWING'S 
"CANADA    HOME." 


Some  homes  are  where  flowers  forever  blow, 
The  sun  shining  hotly  the  whole  year  round; 

But  our  home  glistens  with  six  months  of  snow, 
iVhere  frost  witbont  wind  brightens  everjy  sound. 

And  home  is  home,  wherever  it  is, 

When  we  're  all  together,  and  nothing  amiss. 

J.  H.  E. 


i,  i4eT  Co^xf    What  w«iJco^tfc     '  ~^  '^^  ^''fU^  '      '^^^\ 

;^C«d's    sh\\[    be    ^H^\     come/'  _  '^■^Vil    '  "^^    •"•■^    i-^^J% 


LEAVES 


FROM 


JULIANA   HORATIA   EWING'S 
"CANADA  HOME." 


C5atf)eren  antJ  CllustratcU 

BY 

ELIZABETH    S.  TUCKER. 


Together  with  Facsimiles  of  Eight  Water-Color  Drawings 
BY  Mrs.  Ewing's  own  hand. 


BOSTON: 

ROBERTS    BROTHERS. 

1896. 


Copyright,  1896, 
By  Roberts  Brothers. 


All  rights  reserved. 


Slniijcrsitg  i^r^ss: 
John  Wilson  and  Son,  Cambridge,  U.S.A. 


TO 

ijflargaret  fHctilEg, 

THROUGH  WHOSE  KINDLY  ASSISTANCE  THESE    MEMORIAL 

LEAVES   OF  THE  LIFE  OF   HER   BELOVED  FRIEND 

ARE    GATHERED, 

THIS   VOLUME   IS   LOVINGLY   DEDICATED. 

E.   S.   TUCKER. 


586 


l,''!:'i;!'f"|!'!!W(,l| 


CONTENTS. 


Leaves  from  Mrs.  Ewing's  "Canada  Home 

Mrs.  Ewing's  Leti^ers 

Bishop  Medley's  Letier  to  Major  Ewing 


Page 
II 

144 


LIST   OF   ILLUSTRATIONS. 


Page 

Juliana  Horatia  Ewing .  Frontispiece 

Soldier's  Marching  Kit Table  of  Contents 

The  House  Motto  (colored) Face  page  1 1 

Initial.     Soldier  and  Lass ii 

Mrs.  Ewing's  House,  "  Reka  Dom" 15 

Branch  of  Willow  Tree 17 

View  of  the  River  from  Porch  of  "  Reka  Dom"    .     .  19 
Ruins  of  Old  Rose  Hall,  where  Benedict  Arnold  once 

lived  and  Mrs.  Ewing  stayed 21 

Initial.     Brushes  and  Ladder 23 

Initial.     Sword 26 

The  Old  Barracks  (colored)      ...     .     .    Face  page  26 

On  Guard  .     .     .     .     .     ....     . 27 

Soldier's  Sash 29 

Mrs.  Ewing  and  her  Dog  Hector 32 

Mrs.  Ewing's  Seat  in  Choir  of  Cathedral 34 

Old  Government  House,  Fredericton 39 

Primrose      ..'     ^     ....... 44 

Initial.     Orderly  at  the  Door 45 

Window  in  "  Reka  Dom  " 47 

Mrs.  Ewing  telling  Stories  to  the  Children.     ...  53 

Initial.     Cathedral  Spire 55 

Fredericton  Cathedral 57 

Eastern  Door  of  the  Cathedral 61 


X  L  ist  of  Illustrations, 

Pagb 

BiSHOPSCOTE 63 

My  Mrs.  Over-the-way  at  her  Door 65 

Initial.     Dog  and  Snowshoes 67 

Fir  Bough  Shelter 69 

Mrs.  Ewing's  Barn  and  Canoe 71 

Old  Nashwaak  Bridge 72 

Initial.     Trillium  Flower 74 

Primrose  in  Pot 79 

Major,  Mrs.  Ewing  and  Hector 81 

Pressed   Leaves.     Fac-simile   of   Mrs.    Ewing's   Water- 
color  Sketch 85 

Fir    Trees    and    Fence.     Fac-simile    of    Mrs.    Ewing's 

Water-color  Sketch Z^ 

The  Nashwaak  River 99 

Rear  View  of  the  Cathedral    .     .     . 103 

The    Cathedral    and    Yellow    Trees.      Fac-simile    of 

Mrs.   Ewing's   Water-color  Sketch 106 

Yellow  and  Crimson  Tree.     Fac-simile  of  Mrs.  Ewing's 

Water-color  Sketch no 

On  the  Nashwaak 121 

The  Cathedral.     Fac-simile   of   Mrs.  Ewing's  Water- 
color  Sketch 123 

Ruins  of  Rose  Hall  of  to-day 133 

Magundy  Church.     Fac-simile  of   Mrs.   Ewing's   Water- 
color  Sketch 137 

Church  Spire.     Fac-simile  of  Mrs.  Ewing's  Water-color 

Sketch 140 

Mrs.  Ewing's  Tomb  at  Trull «...  145 


Leaves  from 
Mrs.  Ewing's  ^^ Canada  Home.'' 


CHAPTER    I. 


F  that  sweet  writer,  Juliana 
HoRATiA  EwiNG,  whose  busy 
pen  was  not  long  since  laid 
aside,  but  whose  memory  lives 
with  us  in  the  pages  of  some  of  the  best  loved 
and  brightest  stories  in  the  English  language,  these 
are  a  few  memories  and  facts  of  that  portion  of  her 
life  spent  on  this  side  of  the  Atlantic,  —  a  sort  of 
gleaner's  sheaf,  from  the  rich  field  of  that  life 
already  gone  over  and  stored  by  her  sister,  Miss 
H.  K.  Gatty,^  who,  however,  in  her  interesting 
work  has  left  almost  untouched  the  record  of 
the  two  years  in    Canada.     So  that  with  the  aid 

1  "Juliana  H.  Ewing  and  her  Books,"  by  Miss  H.  K.  Gatty,  1885. 


12  Leaves  from 

of  loving  memories  held  by  her  many  old  friends 
there,  together  with  some  of  her  own  charming 
letters  written  "  Home  "  at  that  time,  we  have 
many   things  of  interest  to  tell. 

In  the  small  provincial  city  of  Fredericton,  New 
Brunswick,  she  spent  two  years  of  her  earnest 
life,  writing  there  many  of  her  sweetest  stories; 
and  we  find,  in  following  her  footsteps  and  in 
reading  her  letters,  how  deeply  she  loved  the  quaint 
old  town  whither  she  came,  a  stranger  and  a  bride, 
with  her  husband,  Major  Ewing,  when  his  regi- 
ment, the  twenty-second  of  England,  was  ordered 
there  in   1867. 

Her  dearest  friend  there,  Margaret  Medley,  wife 
of  the  late  Bishop  Medley  of  Fredericton,  has 
been  to  me  a  veritable  "  Mrs.  Over-the-Way " 
in  giving  me  of  her  "  remembrances,"  as  little  Ida 
in  that  story  would  say;  and  to  her  thanks  are 
due  for  the  delightful  letters,  as  well  as  the 
interesting  set  of  water  colors  drawn  by  Mrs. 
Ewing's  own  hand.  These  were  done,  in  fact, 
especially  for  her  revered  and  beloved  friend  the 
Bishop    of    Fredericton,    and    were    given    to    him 


Mrs,  Ewings  "  Canada  Homer  1 3 

on  her  departure  for  England.  Her  love  and 
esteem  for  these  two  friends  can  readily  be  seen 
by  the  frequent  mention  of  them  in  these  letters 
"  Home."  It  was  to  them  she  dedicated  her  book, 
"  A  great  Emergency,"  and  she  keenly  enjoyed 
her  study  of  Hebrew  with  the  Bishop,  who  in  his 
turn  was  greatly  impressed  by  the  quick  mind 
and  retentive  memory  of  his  pupil. 

Mrs.  Ewing  is  described  as  having  an  earnest 
face,  with  deep  set,  "  thinking  eyes,"  while  her 
slic^ht  form  seemed  almost  too  frail  and  small  to 
carry  the  abundant  crown  of  golden  hair  worn  in 
plaits  coiled  at  the  back  of  her  head. 

Can  one  not  almost  see  her,  sitting  as  in  her 
photograph  here,  that  earnest  face  bending  over 
the  papers  on  her  lap,  —  writing,  writing,  writing 
the  lovely  thoughts  which  flowed  so  readily  and 
continually   from   her  magic  pen  t 

The  Ewings  occupied  three  or  four  different 
homes  during  their  two  years'  stay  in  Fredericton, 
but  the  favorite  one  was  that  which  I  can  see  from 
my  window  here,  with  its  three  gray  old  willow 
sentinels.     She  often  speaks  of  this  house  in    her 


14  Leaves  from 

letters,  how  much  she  enjoyed  her  life  there.  She 
called  it  "  Reka  Dom  "  —  House  by  the  River,  — 
for  it  stands  on  the  bank  of  the  river  St.  John, 
across  the  road  from  three  old  willows.  There  she 
wrote  her  story  of  "  Reka  Dom,"  and  here  is  a 
sketch  of  the  window  in  her  room,  —  probably  the 
very  one  by  which  she  sat  when  writing. 

Once  when  she  and  her  husband  were  walking 
on  the  river  bank  not  long  after  their  arrival  in 
Fredericton,  seeing  this  old  shambling  house  — 
which  she  describes  in  one  of  her  letters, — she 
expressed  a  wish  to  live  in  it ;  and  they  moved 
there  as  soon  as  they  could  get  possession. 
How  she  must  have  enjoyed  the  beautiful  St. 
John  River  flowing  in  front  of  their  windows, 
guarded  by  the  rows  of  old  willows!  Her  room 
is  in  the  lower  right-hand  corner,  with  the  closed 
shutters. 

I  think  that  dog  "  Nox,"  in  "  Benjy  in  Beastland," 
must  have  had  his  "  improvised  morgue,"  for  the 
"  bodies  "  he  found  in  the  river,  under  that  very 
old  willow  which  still  stretches  out  over  the  river 
its  "  finger-like "   leaves.     This    is  what   she    says 


Mrs,  Ewings  ''Canada  Homer  17 


of  it  in 
that  story  : 

"  Near  the  dog's  home  ran  a  broad, 
deep  river.  Here  one  could  bathe  and  swim  most 
delightfully.  Here  also  many  an  unfortunate  ani- 
mal found  a  watery  grave.  There  was  one  place 
from  which  (the  water  being  deep  and  the  bank 
convenient  at  this  spot)  the  poor  wretches  were 
generally  thrown.  .  .  .  Hither  at  early  morning 
Nox  would  come,  in  conformity  with  his  own 
peculiar  code  of  duty,  which  may  be  summed  up 
in  these  words :  '  Whatever  does  not  properly  or 
naturally  belong  to  the  water,  should  be  fetched 
out.'  .  .  .  Not  far  from  the  spot  I  have  men- 
tioned, an  old  willow  tree  spread  its  branches 
widely  over  the  bank,  and  here  and  there  stretched 
a  long  arm,  and  touched  the  river  with  its 
pointed  fingers.  Under  the  shadow  of  this  tree 
was    the    morsrue,    and    here     Nox    brousfht    the 


2 


1 8  Leaves  from 

bodies  he  rescued  from  the  river,  and  laid  them 
down." 

This  river  was  a  great  source  of  joy  and  plea- 
sure to  her  beauty-seeing  eye;  and  over  its  lovely 
waters  the  richly  toned  Cathedral  chimes,  and 
the  bugle  note  from  the  barracks,  tell  the  time  of 
day,  and  ring  out  calls  to  worship  to-day,  just  as 
they  did  when  she  lived  in  this  house  on  its 
banks.  This  view  she  constantly  enjoyed  while 
they  lived  in  that  river  house,  —  looking  down  the 
river  from  the  porch,  —  and  she  refers  to  its  love- 
liness in  her  letters. 

Along  this  river  bank  of  a  Sunday  evening  the 
soldier  and  his  lass  stroll  to-day,  with  utter  un- 
concern for  the  passing  beholder,  as  they  did 
then,  making  picturesque  bits  of  red  coat  and 
white  gown  against  the  blue  river-line,  —  the  red 
of  coat  seeming  to  be  compelled  to  keep  the 
rules  of  true  picture-making  by  carrying  a  line 
of  the  red  across  a  certain  narrow  place  on  the 
white. 

It  is  just  the  same  to-day;  and  seemingly  the 
very  same  children    play   under    the  wdllows,   with 


"* 

>. 


Mrs,  Ewings  ''Canada  Homer  21 

their  dog  friends,  and   drive  cows  leisurely  along 
early  in  the  morning  and  late  at  night. 

Mrs.  Evving  had  another  home  on  the  bank  of 
the  St.  John  —  much  farther  "down  river  "  (as  they 


RUINS   OF   OLD    ROSE    HALL,    WHERE    IJEXEDICT   ARNOLD    ONCE    LIVED 
AND   MRS.    EWING   STAYED. 

say)  than  "  Reka  Dom."  There  she  occupied  the 
large  drawing-room  in  an  interesting  old  house 
known  as  "  Rose  Hall,"  and  noted  for  its  lovely 
river    view    and    the    fine    old     trees    about     its 


2  2  Leaves  from 

grounds.  This  place  is  of  historic  interest  also, 
for  it  was  there  that  the  traitor  Benedict  Arnold 
lived  while  in  Canada.  A  pile  of  ruins  is  now^  all 
that  is  left  of  the  place  (which  was  destroyed  by  fire 
years  ago).  Here  once  was  heard  the  martial  tread 
of  this  mysterious  man  as  he  walked  up  and  down 
in  meditation  bent,  and  here  our  little  lady  trod 
the  trees  and  flowers  among ;  here  the  weeds  pa- 
thetically w^ave  over  the  crumbled  hearth-stones, 
and  the  cows  graze  all  about,  while  birds  undis- 
turbed build  in  the  trees  overhead,  and  countless 
crickets  chirp  their  everlasting  note  of  the  "  un- 
changeable "  under  all  the  seeming  change  of 
this  busy  world. 


Mrs,  Ewings  "  Canada  Home'' 


CHAPTER    IL 


ANY  an  amusing  anecdote  is 
recalled  of  the  industry  and 
dauntless  energy  of  this  "  lit- 
tle body  with  the  great  heart " 
(as  her  sister  tells  us  she  is 
described  by  a  friend)  who 
desired  to  do  all  things. 

A  story  is  told  of  one  of  the  houses  she  occupied 
having  such  an  offensive  wall  paper  as  to  offend 
her  artistic  eye ;  and  on  her  complaining  of  it  to 
a  Canadian  visitor,  this  latter  said,  half  in  fun, 
that  of  course  a  Canadian  girl  would  be  able  to 
get  over  the  difficulty  by  papering  the  room  her- 
self, but  she  supposed  an  English  girl  would  not 
know  how,  as,  in  her  opinion,  ''  English  girls  had 
only  two  left  hands  and  no  head." 

This  at  once  caused  our  little  lady,  and  her 
friend  Mrs.  Medley,  to  resent  the  implied  discredit 


24  Leaves  from 

to  the  Old  World  training  of  a  girl,  and  they  at 
once  resolved  to  show  what  an  "  English  girl  "  could 
do  if  her  powers  were  put  to  the  test. 

She  accordingly  bought  "  a  delicate,  useless,  lav- 
ender-tinted wall  paper "  (as  I  was  told),  and 
though  she  did  not  probably  know  the  difference 
between  a  "  hanger  "  and  a  whitewash  brush,  she 
nevertheless  proceeded  to  put  up  that  paper.  Of 
this  paper-hanging  she  gives  such  a  bright  account 
in  a  letter  —  that  of  Oct.  12,  1868  —  that  one  has 
the  whole  picture.  But  she  does  not  add  what  was 
told  to  me  by  an  onlooker  —  (in  fact,  the  very  caller 
whose  remarks  upon  English  girls  called  forth  the 
event)  —  that  while  the  two  intrepid  ladies  were 
hurrying  up  their  work,  to  have  it  done  when 
Major  Ewing  should  come  home,  he  suddenly  and 
unexpectedly  appeared.  At  his  emphatic  exclama- 
tion of  amazement,  on  seeing  them  on  tall  ladders 
wielding  brushes  in  such  a  professional  manner,  his 
little  wife,  who  had  just  finished  what  she  consid= 
ered  her  greatest  achievement  on  that  wall,  —  the 
pasting  over  the  chimney,  —  was  overcome  by  her 
laughter.     Standing  on  the  mantlepiece  as  she  was. 


Mrs,  Ewijigs  "  Caiiada  Homer  25 

she  had  to  bend  forward  to  recover  her  balance,  and 
leaning  against  that  "  lovely  "  paper,  left  the  print 
of  a  pasty  apron  and  hands  in  the  very  centre ! 
The  house  is  little  changed,  but  oh,  that  that 
print  of  apron  and  hands  could  now  be  seen  over 
the  hearth-stone  ! 


26 


Leaves  from 


CHAPTER    III. 


AJOR  Ewing  had  his  office    in 

a    small     red     brick     building 

joining  the   old  gray  barracks 

now  occupied    by    the    officers    and 

their  families. 

The  drawing  opposite  shows  some 
parts  of  this  picturesque  barrack  as 
it  is  to-day,  with  bits  of  its  unique 
life. 

The  children  still  play  with  the  regimental 
dogs  as  they  did  in  days  of  old,  and  here  Mrs. 
Ewing  used  to  come  to  sit  under  the  great  old 
willows,  whence  she  could  get  those  lovely  glimpses 
of  the  blue  river  beyond. 

It  was  in  this  very  yard  that  she  saw  the  pet 
bear  of  the  reoiment  eatins:  his  dinner,  while  his 
favorite  dog  sat  by  and  "  licked  his  nose  every 
time  it  came  up  from  the  bucket,"  as  she  writes 
in  one  of  her  home  letters. 


ON   GUARD. 


Mrs.  Ewings  "  Canada  Honied  29 

Here  one   may  see,  as   in  her  day,  the  various 
scenes    of    a    military  life,  —  a   red-coated    British 
soldier,  standing  "  at  ease  "  under  the  old  gallery  by 
the  worn   stairs  with  his  black 
cat  friend  peeping  through  the 
rails,  or  running  a  lawn-mower 
over  the  well-kept  tennis  green. 

It  was  in  these  barracks  that 
she  found  and  rescued  a  black 
retriever  from  death,  he  bavins: 
been  shut  up  and  basely  de- 
serted by  the  outgoing  regi- 
ment. She  named  him  l>ouve, 
and  it  is  his  likeness  she  has 
drawn  in  her  story  of  "  Benjy 
in  Beastland,"  as  Nox.  There  is 
a  descendant  of  Black  Trouve's 
at  the  barracks  to-day,  —  the  children's  pet  and 
playfellow.  Poor  Trouve  had  such  an  appetite  that 
he  was  never  satisfied,  and  was  always  stealing  the 
meat  for  dinner;  and  his  mistress  had  often  to  send 
and  borrow  of  some  kind  neighbor,  "  as  company 
was  expected  and  Trouve  had  eaten  the  joint !  " 


30  Leaves  from 

His  mistress's  fondness  for  all  animals  is  shown 
throughout  her  writings.  In  reading  that  deli- 
cious bit  of  bush-life  depicted  by  Father  and 
Mother  Hedgehog  in  the  tale  of  "  Father  Hedge- 
hog and  his  Neighbors,"  one  can  see  how  truly 
the  author  saw  under  prickly  coats  of  quills  the 
true  instincts  of  animal  life. 

Dogs  were  her  special  favorites,  and  nothing 
was  too  good  for  them  to  eat,  and  no  place  too 
clean  to  be  climbed  on  by  their  muddy  paws. 
She  was  always  most  tender  of  hurting  their  feel- 
ings, while  many  a  stray  pussy  has  found  a  com- 
fortable home  with  her. 

She  did  not  care  to  cage  a  bird,  for  she  loved 
them  too  deeply,  —  as  she  has  shown  in  her  "  Idyll 
of  a  Wood." 

Her  dear  dogs  were  her  intimate  friends,  and 
once  when  she  was  callino:  at  the  house  of  a 
friend,  where  the  vestibule  had  been  newly 
scrubbed  scrupulously  clean,  she  w^as  asked  by 
her  hostess  to  leave  her  dog,  whose  feet  and  coat 
were  very  muddy,  out  on  the  steps.  She  did  so, 
but  was  compelled  to  go  out  several  times  during 


Mrs.  Ewings  "  Canada  Horned  3 1 

her  visit,  and  whisper  words  of  apology  and  con- 
dolence in  the  ear  of  her  big  banished  pet,  for 
fear  he  might  be  hurt  in  his  doggish  mind  —  at 
being  left  outside. 

Here  is  another  instance  of  her  tender,  droll 
ways  with  her  dog  friends. 

A  visitor  calling  at  her  house  one  day  found 
her  deep  in  wTiting,  every  chair  and  table  being  full 
of  papers  and  books,  so  that  there  was  no  room 
for  the  tea-tray  when  the  servant  brought  it  in. 
Mrs.  Ewing,  looking  up,  said,  "Oh,  put  it  on  the 
floor."  So  down  it  went.  Now  one  of  the  doo: 
friends  (a  great  fellow)  was  present,  and  of  course 
was  curious  to  sniff  the  contents  of  the  tray.  The 
visitor  was  horrified  at  seeino^  his  q-reat  muzzle 
nosing  over  the  things,  and  exclaimed  about  it. 
Down  on  the  floor  beside  him  went  his  tender 
mistress,  and  with  both  arms  about  his  neck  she 
whispered  to  him  not  to  mind  that  "  horrid  per- 
son's" insinuations  and  suspicions,  but  to  watch 
her,  that  when  she  went  she  did  not  "  carry  away 
the  silver  spoons  with  her  ! "  Wherever  she  went 
her  dear   doos   went  with    her,  and   wherever  she 


32  Leaves  from 

speaks  of  animal  life  in  her  books,  she  shows  her 

deep    interest    in  their    welfare,    and     insight    into 
their  habits. 


MRS.    EWING    AND    HECTOR. 


Mrs,  Ewings  "  Canada  Home  J'  2>2> 


CHAPTER    IV. 

LL  of  her  friends  remember 
Mrs.  Ewing's  keen  apprecia- 
tion of  anything  humorous, 
and  the  ready  names,  both  apt 
and  droll,  but  always  quite 
inoffensive,  that  she  applied  to  people  and  things 
as  her  vivid  imagination  suggested. 

Even  in  the  choir  of  the  Cathedral,  where  she 
always  wished  to  be  most  reverent,  her  sense  of 
the  ridiculous  sometimes  overcame  her,  and  she 
would  have  to  smile  almost  audibly  at  some  little 
incident  insignificant  in  itself. 

Across  from  where  she  sat  in  the  choir  of  the 
church,  she  codld  see  the  verger  blowing  the  bel- 
lows of  the  great  organ,  and  as  his  stooping 
figure  bent  over,  the  long  handle  of  the  bellows 
stuck  out  from  under  the  drooping  fold  of  his 
black   robe,  giving  the  droll   appearance  of  a  tail ! 

3 


34  Leaves  from 

This  was  always,  to  her  imagination,  a  most 
comical  sight,  and  more  than  once  she  smiled  at 
her  friend  on  the  seat  opposite,  quite  upsetting 
that  quiet  lady's  dignity. 

One  little  lady  in  the  choir,  who  always  slid 
and  glided  into  her  seat  with  an  undulating 
movement,  never  allowing  her  garments  to  touch 
anything  as  she  went,  was  called  by  her,  "  Patha 
Furtiva,"  which  is  the  Hebrew  for  a  "  thing 
which  glides."  Another's  voice  she  always  spoke 
of  as  "  weepingly  pitched  "  —  which  perfectly  de- 
scribed it ! 

There  was  a  family  of  unruly  children  living 
near  her,  by  whose  actions  she  was  always  much 
entertained.  Doubtless  some  of  the  rather  naughty 
—  but  oh,  so  natural !  —  boys  and  girls  in  some  of 
her  stories  are  drawn  from  these  very  children's 
characters. 

On  one  occasion,  when  she  was  calling  on  their 
mother,  sitting  in  the  parlor,  they  noticed  a  rust- 
ling or  scrambling  in  the  great  fireplace,  behind 
the  old  fashioned  fire-board.  Presently  down 
came   this   board  flat,  with  a  puff  of  dust,  disclos- 


. c<iX'  -  He.  ti  t" 


lU-A  "gT- 


•  c**-       j^i,.;      O^Mk 


MRS.    EWING'S    SEAT   IN    CHOIR   OF   CATHEDRAL. 


Mrs,  Ewings  ''Canada  Homer  2*7 

ing  all  the  children  in  a  bunch,  with  sooty  faces 
and  garments,  sitting  in  the  fireplace !  They  had 
hidden  there,  but,  quarrelling,  had  pushed  the 
board  down. 

Mrs.  Ewing  was  interested  in  a  story,  then 
coming  out  in  "  Aunt  Judy's  Magazine,"  called 
"  The  Scaramouches,"  and  she  then  and  there 
bestowed  upon  these  "  mischief  makers  "  the  ap- 
propriate title  of  Scaramouches,  by  which  they 
were  always  known  thereafter. 

She  was  interested  in  all  the  customs  of  this 
quaint  colonial  town,  and  of  the  Canadian  winter 
dress  she  speaks  in  the  story  of  "  Three  Christ- 
mas-Trees," where  a  boy  is  described  as  wearing 
"  a  hooded  Indian  winter  coat  of  blue  and  scar- 
let," which  is  the  picturesque  Canadian  blanket 
coat  of  winter.  In  that  story  she  speaks  also  of 
the  dry  cold  snow,  so  strange  and  wonderful  to  her 
English  eyes,  telling  how,  when  the  boys  tried  to 
make  a  real  live  snow-man,  "  the  snow  would 
not  stick  anywhere  except  on  his  shoulders," 
showing  the  extreme  dryness  and  powdery  light- 
ness for  which  our  Canadian  snow  is  noted. 


38  Leaves  from 

In  this  story  there  is  an  account  of  the  life  in 
this  little  town  of  her  day,  which  tells  of  a  custom 
still  kept  up  by  the  Governor  of  the  Province,  of 
giving  the  children  a  Christmas-tree,  or  a  party 
some  time  through  the  winter.  Christmas-trees 
were  then  by  no  means  so  universal,  even  in  Eng- 
land, as  they  now  are,  and  in  this  little  colonial 
town  they  were  unknown,  —  unknown,  that  is,  till 
the  Governor's  wife  gave  her  great  children's  party. 

"  The  Governor  had  given  a  great  many  parties 
in  his  time.  He  had  entertained  big  wigs  and 
little  wigs,  the  passing  military  and  the  local 
grandees.  Everybody  who  had  the  remotest  claim 
to  attention  had  been  attended  to :  the  ladies  had 
had  their  full  share  of  balls  and  pleasure  parties : 
only  one  class  of  the  population  had  any  complaint 
to  prefer  against  his  hospitality ;  but  the  class  was 
a  large  one  —  it  was  the  children.  However,  he 
was  a  bachelor,  and  knew  next  to  nothing  about 
little  boys  and  girls  :  let  us  pity  rather  than  blame 
him.  At  last  he  took  to  himself  a  wife;  and 
among  the  many  advantages  of  this  important  step 
was  a  due  recognition  of  the  claims  of  these  young 


Mrs.  Ewings  ''Canada  Homey  41 

citizens.  It  was  towards  happy  Christmas-tide 
that  '  the  Governor's  amiable  and  admired  lady ' 
(as  she  was  styled  in  the  local  newspaper)  sent  in- 
vitations for  the  first  children's  party.  At  the  top 
of  the  note-paper  was  a  very  red  robin,  who  carried 
a  blue  Christmas  greeting  in  his  mouth,  and  at  the 
bottom  —  written  with  the  A.  D.  C.'s  best  flourish 
—  were  the  magic  w^ords,  A  Christmas-Tree.  In 
spite  of  the  flourishes  —  partly,  perhaps,  because  of 
them  —  the  A.  D.  C.'s  handwriting,  though  hand- 
some, was  rather  illegible.  But  for  all  this,  most 
of  the  children  invited  contrived  to  read  these 
words,  and  those  who  could  not  do  so  were  not 
slow  to  learn  the  news  by  hearsay.  There  was  to 
be  a  Christmas-tree  I  It  would  be  like  a  birthday 
party,  with  this  above  ordinary  birthdays,  that  there 
were  to  be  presents  for  every  one. 

"  One  of  the  children  invited  lived  in  a  little  white 
house,  with  a  spruce  fir-tree  before  the  door.  The 
spruce  fir  did  this  good  service  to  the  little  house, 
that  it  helped  people  to  find  their  way  to  it ;  and 
it  was  by  no  means  easy  for  a  stranger  to  find  his 
way  to  any  given  house  in  this  little  town,  espe- 


42  Leaves  from 

cially  if  the  house  was  small  and  white,  and  stood 
in  one  of  the  back  streets.  For  most  of  the  houses 
were  small,  and  most  of  them  were  painted  w^hite, 
and  the  back  streets  ran  parallel  with  each  other, 
and  had  no  names,  and  were  all  so  much  alike  that 
it  was  very  confusing.  For  instance,  if  you  had 
asked  the  way  to  Mr.  So-and-So's,  it  is  very  prob- 
able that  some  friend  would  have  directed  you  as 
follows :  '  Go  straio^ht  forward  and  take  the  first 
turning  to  your  left,  and  you  will  find  that  there 
are  four  streets,  which  run  at  right  angles  to  the 
one  you  are  in  and  parallel  with  each  other.  Each 
of  them  has  got  a  big  pine  in  it  —  one  of  the  old 
forest  trees.  Take  the  last  street  but  one,  and  the 
fifth  white  house  you  come  to  is  Mr.  So-and-So's. 
He  has  green  blinds  and  a  colored  servant.'  You 
would  not  always  have  got  such  clear  directions  as 
these,  but  with  them  you  would  probably  have 
found  the  house  at  last,  partly  by  accident,  partly 
by  the  blinds  and  colored  servant.  Some  of  the 
neighbors  affirm.ed  that  the  little  white  house  had 
a  name ;  that  all  the  houses  and  streets  had  names, 
only  they  were   traditional  and   not   recorded  any- 


Mrs.  Ewifzgs  "  Canada  Home!'  43 

where ;  that  very  few  people  knew  them,  and  no- 
body made  any  use  of  them.  The  name  of  the 
little  white  house  was  said  to  be  Trafalgar  Villa, 
which  seemed  so  inappropriate  to  the  modest 
peaceful  little  home,  that  the  man  who  lived  in  it 
tried  to  find  out  why  it  had  been  so  called.  He 
thought  that  his  predecessor  must  have  been  in 
the  navy,  until  he  found  that  he  had  been  the 
owner  of  what  is  called  a  '  dry-goods  store,'  which 
seems  to  mean  a  shop  where  things  are  sold  which 
are  not  good  to  eat  or  drink  —  such  as  drapery. 
At  last  somebody  said,  that  as  there  was  a  public- 
house  called  '  The  Duke  of  Wellington  '  at  the  cor- 
ner of  the  street,  there  probably  had  been  a  nearer 
one  called  '  The  Nelson,'  which  had  been  burnt 
dow^n,  and  that  the  man  who  built  '  The  Nelson  ' 
had  built  the  house  with  a  spruce  fir  before  it,  and 
that  so  the  name  had  arisen,  —  an  explanation 
which  was  just  so  far  probable,  that  public-houses 
and  fires  were  of  frequent  occurrence  in  those  parts." 
This  was  the  way  it  was  when  she  was  living 
here.  How  fond  she  was  of  the  beautiful  woods, 
and  of  always  searching  for,  and  finding  the  small- 


44  Leaves  from 

est  thing,  seeing  the  fuhiess  of  God's  great  love  in 
all,  and  so,  keenly  appreciating  it. 

See  how  in  her  "  Idyll  of  the  Wood  "  she  makes 
the   wise   old   man   say :"  Well,  well,  my  children, 

to  know  and  love  a 
w^ood  truly,  it  may  be 
that  one  must  live  in 
it  as  I  have  done ; 
and  then  a  lifetime 
will  scarcely  reveal 
all  its  beauties  or  ex- 
haust its  lessons ;  but 
even  then  one  must  have  eyes  that  see,  and  ears 
that  hear,  or  one  misses  a  good  deal,"  —  speak- 
ing all  through  this  delightsome  Idyll  as  only 
one  who  knows  and  sees  the  "  woods  "  root  and 
branch  can  speak  of  its  glories.  I  seem  to  feel  her 
very  presence  in  those  woods  to-day,  and  love  to 
fancy  her  eager  face  peering  among  the  waving 
ferns  for  the  hidden  treasures,  and  looking  up 
through  the  thick,  waving  branches  laced  into  a 
canopy  overhead,  now  in  deep  shade  and  now 
flecked  over  with  the  peeping  sunshine. 


Mrs.  Ewings  "  Canada  Home,'' 


45 


CHAPTER   V. 


HE  housekeepers  in  this  com- 
munity still  smile  over  the 
recollections  of  many  amus- 
ing scenes  in  the  household 
of  these  two  literary,  musical, 
military  people,  both  so  ab- 
sorbed in  their  special  work, 
making  use  of  the  smallest 
amount  of  furniture  possible,  and  allowing  the 
household  to  "  run  itself,"  as  the  saying  is.  Funny 
times  and  droll  mistakes  are  recalled,  such  as 
the  stopping  of  a  stove-pipe  hole  in  the  chimney 
with  a  bath  sponge,  causing  a  long  search  for  this 
article,  and  a  smoking  flue  in  consequence  of  the 
stopped  draught,  windows  being  left  wide  to  let 
in  W'inter  breezes  and  do  away  with  the  smoke, 
while  the  occupant  of  the  room  sat  wrapped  up 
and  complained  of  the  cold ! 


^6  Leaves  from 

Many  a  morning,  early,  the  pair  used  to -go 
over  to  Bishopscote  and  beg  to  be  asked  to  break- 
fast, as  that  meal  had  not  been  provided  for  in 
their  household. 

However,  with  the  most,  at  times,  untidy  aspect 
of  rooms,  it  was  always  a  very  attractive  place  to 
visit,  and  many  loved  to  go  to  this  home  with  its 
nameless  charm  of  literary  disorder,  always  some 
pretty  decorations,  and  here  and  there  Mrs. 
Ewing's  own  sketches  pinned  on  the  walls. 

Ah,  it  was  the  gentle  manner  of  the  beautiful 
hostess,  —  that  inborn  grace  of  spirit  which  in 
a  short  conversation  would  cause  the  most  critical 
housekeeper  to  entirely  forget  the  surroundings, 
and  to  rejoice  in  that  sweet  society !  A  visitor 
would  perhaps  find  her  hostess  seated  on  the 
hearth-rug,  her  papers  on  her  lap,  feet  outstretched, 
writing  away  to  get  her  manuscript  complete  for 
the  story  that  was  to  go  by  the  English  mail,  an 
orderly  standing  the  while,  like  a  wooden  sen- 
tinel, waiting  to  take  the  packet  when  it  should 
be  ready. 

Waving  her  pen  hospitably,  and  going  straight 


^«*^.^ 

^■^ 


K    THE  sr^f^Po^   oT-r«s  RooNV 


WINDOW    TN    "REKA    DOM." 


Mrs,  Ewing's  '''Canada  Homer  49 

on  with  her  work,  she  would  invite  the  friend 
to  enter — to  excuse  the  disorder  and  lack  of 
chairs  (all  occupied  by  piles  of  manuscript),  sug- 
gesting that  if  the  caller  really  wished  to  help 
her,  she  could  do  so  by  gathering  up  the  various 
piles  in  the  order  of  their  numbering,  and  bring 
them  to  her  to  tie  up. 

At  one  time  this  little  mistress,  so  absorbed  in 
her  great  work  that  all  else  seemed  of  minor 
importance  (for  which  we  ought  to  be  truly  thank- 
ful), determined  to  give  a  dinner  party  in  return 
for  the  many  invitations  and  hospitalities  that 
she  had  received.  So  many  obstacles,  in  the 
way  of  lack  of  proper  dishes  and  the  necessary 
accoutrements  for  such  an  affair,  in  her  limited 
military  establishment,  arose,  that  they  would  have 
daunted  many  a  housewife,  —  but  not  our  little  lady 
of  the  "  great  heart."  Her  ready  wit  supplied  the 
lack,  and  her  own  generous  and  liberal  mind  made 
her  believe  that  others  were  the  same  ;  so  she  sent 
out  and  borrowed  all  the  necessary  articles,  in- 
cluding glass,  china,  and  silver  candlesticks,  from 
her  neighbors  and  friends. 


50  Leaves  from 

Her  rooms  were  crowded,  and  it  was  a  most 
brilliant  affair  —  where  the  people,  with  apprecia- 
tion of  her  entertainment,  noticed  but  little  the 
lack  of  things  which  usually  go  to  make  up  the 
substance  of  social  affairs.  As  the  last  guests 
were  leaving,  however,  there  was  a  great  uproar 
heard  from  the  basement  kitchen  regions  of  the 
house,  which  became  so  pronounced  that  Mrs. 
Ewing  asked  her  husband  to  descend  and  inquire 
into  the  cause  thereof,  as  she  feared  the  orderly 
and  the  borrowed  butler  were  quarrelling.  He 
found  this  indeed  the  case,  as  the  two  were  having 
a  stand-up  fight  amid  the  wreck  of  many  borrowed 
articles  of  glass,  dropped  in  his  heat  by  the 
butler,  on  the  kitchen  floor,  while  the  cook  was 
prone  upon  the  hearth  in  a  semi-intoxicated  state, 
and  literally  a  "  heap  of  smoking  ruins "  (as  Mrs. 
Ewing  expressed  it),  having  put  a  lighted  pipe 
into  her  pocket- 

Her  merriment  over  this  amusing  incident  was 
(as  always)  most  infectious,  and  what  to  some 
would  have  been  a  trial  and  almost  a  disgrace, 
was     turned    into    an    amusing    episode,    looked 


Mrs,  Ewings  ''''Canada  Homer  51 

at  with  her  full  appreciation  of  its  humorous 
aspect. 

Her  absorption  in  anything  which  gave  her  an 
idea  for  a  story  was  really  wonderful,  and  showed  how 
her  active  mind  was  always  in  its  beloved  work. 

Once  when  she  was  calling  at  Bishopscote,  the 
English  mail,  arriving  then  only  once  or  twice  a 
month,  came,  bringing  to  the  Bishop  a  new  book 
of  interesting  travel  and  research  in  the  Arctic 
Seas.  She  seized  upon  the  volume  and  sat  down 
to  devour  its  contents,  which  suggested  a  new 
theme  to  her.  When  it  came  time  to  leave  she 
refused  to  be  torn  away  from  her  treasure  trove, 
and  begged  hard  to  be  invited  to  **  stay  to  tea," 
that  she  might  finish  the  book.  But  this  not 
being  at  all  possible  in  the  Bishop's  household 
that  special  evening,  she  was  compelled  to  part 
with  it,  and  going  home,  at  once  wrote  out  the 
story  it  inspired,  which  afterward  developed  into 
that  charming  tale  of  Kerguslen's  Land,  with  such 
a  charming  description  of  the  home  of  the  myste- 
rious albatross,  and  the  fascinating  conversations 
carried  on  between  Father  and  Mother  Albatross, 


52  Leaves  from 

over  their  nest  of  little  ones,  about  the  cast-away 
man, —  Father  Albatross  discoursing  about  him  in 
this  fashion,  in  superior  contempt:  — 

"  They  are  very  curious  creatures "  (he  says  to 
Mother  A.).  "  The  fancy  they  have  for  wandering 
about  between  sea  and  sky  when  nature  has  not 
enabled  them  to  support  themselves  in  either,  is 
truly  wonderful!  " 

The  whole  dialogue  is  most  delightful,  showing 
her  marvellous  insight  throughout  this,  as  in  all 
her  other  wonderful  animal  stories,  both  of  birds 
and  furry  folk.  She  would  forget  all  else  in  read- 
ing a  book,  and  become  wrapped  in  a  dream  of  re- 
producing an  idea  suggested  by  some  subject  in  it. 
How  keenly  she  saw  from  a  child's  eyes,  and  with 
a  child's  mind  its  outlook  on  life,  is  shown  by  the 
"  real  child  "  language  in  those  stories  where  the 
child  hero  or  heroine  are  made  to,  as  it  were,  tell 
the  story  themselves  ;  "  Mary's  Meadow"  and  "  Flat- 
iron  for  a  Farthing  "  being  especially  good  exam- 
ples of  this  wonderful  power  of  hers,  of  being  able 
to  see  from  all  points. 

Here  is  another  sweet  recollection :  While  Mrs. 


Mrs»  Ewings  ^^  Canada  Homer 


53 


MRS.    EVVING   TFXLING   STORIES   TO    THE    CHILDREN. 


Ewing  was  living  here,  a  little  lad  was  very  ill,  and 
kept  within  doors  all  winter.  Our  tender  little 
lady  used  to  go  every  evening,  towards  dusk 
("  story  time  "),  and  tell  to  him  the  most  beauti- 
ful stories  by  firelight. 


54  Leaves  from 

This  "  story-telling "  was  a  great  gift  of  hers, 
as  her  sister  relates  in  her  account  of  her  child- 
hood. And  the  stories  were  so  wonderful,  and, 
told  in  her  own  sweet  manner,  so  irresistible,  that 
a  group  of  grown  folks  usually  crowded  about  the 
door  of  the  room  where  she  was  "  telling  a  story  " 
to  that  favored  little  boy ! 

Her  lessons  to  her  class  in  Sunday  School  were 
made  so  attractive  that  the  class  next  to  hers 
had  hard  work  not  to  neglect  their  own  lessons 
and  teacher  in  listening  to  her  most  interesting- 
way  of  putting  things. 


Mrs.  Ewings  ''Canada  Home"  55 


CHAPTER   VI, 


T 


HE  Cathedral  of  Fredericton 
was  a  great  source  of  comfort 
and  pleasure  to  Mrs.  Evving,  who  was 
always  devoted  to  her  church,  and  did 
not  expect  to  find  so  beautiful  a  speci- 
men architecturally  of  an  English 
church  in  our  Canadian  land. 

Her  husband  was  organist  in  this  choir  during 
their  stay,  and  wrote  many  beautiful  musical  com- 
positions during  his  lifetime,  perhaps  the  best 
known  being  that  grand  hymn  "  Jerusalem  the 
Golden,"  which  has  sometimes  been  wrongly  at- 
tributed to  his  uncle,  Bishop  Ewing.^  He  also 
conducted  the  Choral  Society,  of  which  she  speaks 

>  Major  Alexander  Ewing  passed  away  in  the  summer  of  1895, 
and  in  the  interesting  account  of  his  life,  printed  at  the  time  in  the 
"  Aberdeen  Times,"  there  is  special  mention  made  of  his  wonderful 
musical  abilities. 


5 6  Leaves  from 

in  her  letters.  How  dearly  she  loved  to  sit  in  her 
seat  in  that  choir,  listening  to  the  inspired  tones 
from  her  beloved  husband's  hands,  under  her 
revered  Bishop,  and  opposite  to  her  friend  his 
wife  ! 

Sometimes  to-day,  when  one  sees  this  latter 
gentle  lady  sitting  in  her  accustomed  place  in  the 
choir,  one  can  fancy  that  the  scene  before  her 
fades  away,  leaving  but  the  two  faces  she  loved  so 
well,  —  that  of  "  her  dear  Lord  "  in  his  Bishop's  seat, 
and  of  the  sweet  singer  opposite  to  her.  For,  as 
this  singer  herself  says,  in  "  The  Story  of  a  Short 
Life,"  "  Can  the  last  parting  do  much  to  hurt  such 
friendships  between  good  souls,  who  have  so  long 
learnt  to  say  farewell ;  to  love  in  absence,  to  trust 
throuQ-h  silence,  and  to  have  faith  in  reunion } " 
Surely,  blessed  are  such  reunions ! 

In  this  seat  in  the  choir  did  our  little  lady  love 
to  sit,  much  enjoying  always  the  beauty  of  the 
Cathedral  with  its  many  rich  parts,  each  having 
its  own  special  meaning  in  ornament,  in  window, 
and  in  the  very  shape  of  the  building  itself,  all 
bearing  witness  to  the  deep  thought  and  reverent 


<JATH£DK.\L   OF    FRtDLKlClU.N. 


Mrs,  Ewings  "  Canada  Honied  59 

care  bestowed  upon  its  structure  by  him  who 
was  its  first  Bishop,  who  for  so  many  years  de- 
voted his  life  to  its  erection.  The  rich  chime  of 
bells,  and  much  of  the  ornamentation,  were  brought 
over  by  his  efforts  from  England,  and  in  the 
shadow  of  its  beautiful  spire  his  body  rests  to^ay, 
close  under  its  gray  walls,  which  are  a  fitting 
memorial  to  his  love  and  zeal  for  his  church 
and  its  people. 

There  she  must  often  have  watched,  as  we  can 
to-day,  the  red  coats  of  the  officers  as  they  filed 
up  the  centre  aisle  of  the  church,  with  much 
clanking  of  swords  and  ringing  of  spurred  heels. 
And  out  of  the  beautiful  Eastern  Door  she  has 
looked  in  loving  admiration,  seeing  through  its 
stone  Gothic  curves,  in  the  soft  light  of  a  sum- 
mer evening,  the  arches  of  the  graceful  branch- 
ing trees  over  the  path  beyond.  As  I  sketched 
this  seat  of  hers,  the  verger  handed  me  an  anthem 
composed  by  Major  Ewing,  with  this,  to  me  at 
that  time,  singularly  meaning-full  title,  "  Why  seek 
ye  the  living  among  the  dead?"  which  seemed  so 
to  fit  her  own  hopeful  views  of  death. 


6o  Leaves  froiit 

In  many  of  Mrs.  Ewing's  clever  sketches  about 
F'redericton  the  old  gray  willows  appear.  She 
used  to  form  merry  parties  of  sketchers,  herself 
always  ready  to  help  and  offer  assistance  to  unac- 
customed hands. 

The  spire  of  her  beloved  Cathedral  is  also  often 
seen,  taken  from  all  points  of  view;  and  much 
of  her  time  was  spent  within  the  hospitable,  vine- 
covered  walls  of  Bishopscote,  —  of  which  we  have 
a  little  picture,  with  a  glimpse  of  its  gentle 
minister's  wafe  in  the  doorway,  to  whose  aid  w^e 
owe  so  many  of  these  recollections. 

Here  she  always  made  herself  quite  at  home,  — 
running  in  and  out  at  all  times,  finding  in  the 
Bishop's  wife  a  loving  friend  and  admonisher,  though 
the  latter  must  often  have  been  sorely  tried  by  our 
little   lady's  caprices  and    unpractical  experiments. 

Like  a  child,  her  bright,  joyous  nature  seized 
upon  any  novel  experience  with  pleasure,  and 
any  play  was  entered  into  with  zest. 

Once  in  the  attic  she  discovered  an  old  set  of 
battledore  and  shuttlecock,  and  soon  had  every 
one  in  a  merry  game.     And  to-day,  there  may  be 


EA61LKN    iXK>K    O^    IHE    CAIHEUKAL. 


Mrs.  Ewhigs  "  Canada  Homer  63 1 

seen,   in   testimony  of    her  eager   play,  a   broken 
battledore  belonging  to  the  old  set! 


BISHOPSCOTE. 


Her  love  of  doing  everything,  whether  she 
understood  the  mechanical  part  of  it  or  not,  was 
shown  once  when  she  came  to  Bishopscote,  and, 
finding  every  one  busily  engaged  on  some  work 
for  church  decoration,  she  determined  to  work  with 
them,  and  insisted  that  she  should  be  allowed  to 
do  so.     Thereupon  she  proceeded  to  cut  out  the 


64  Leaves  from 

letters  for  an  illuminated  text,  —  from  the  only 
paper  obtainable  for  it,  —  but  cut  them  every  one 
out  on  the  zvrong  side  of  the  paper,  so  that 
upon  turning  them  all  were  backward !  She 
crushed  them  up  in  her  hands  and  declared  all 
would  be  right,  for  she  would  send  to  England 
for  more  paper;  but  upon  being  told  how  impos- 
sible this  would  be,  as  the  work  had  to  be  ready 
for  the  morrow,  her  contrition  was  great!  Down 
upon  her  knees  she  went,  with  her  hands  in  a 
prayerful^  attitude  before  her,  and,  supplicating 
them  all  to  forgive  her  for  her  naughtiness,  drove 
away  the  cloud  caused  by  her  mischievousness, 
with  her  droll  merry  manners,  as  was  always 
her  way  of  doing,  from  a  child. 

Her  love  of  fun  was  so  irresistible,  her  repent- 
ance for  wrong-doing  so  great,  the  sternest  heart 
could  not  hold  anything  against  her.  Many  a 
scrape  has  she  got  her  beloved  doggies  out  of, 
by  her  manner  of  turning  away  the  wrath  of  their 
accusers  ;  for  the  love  she  bore  these  dogs,  great 
and  small,  was  wonderful 


ri^.-M^ 


,  AAY   MRS.  OVER-TH£-WAY 
,  ifNl    HER   DOOF? 

'1/ 


lA 


r^^ 


Mrs.  Ewings  "  Canada  Homer  67 


CHAPTER    VII. 

ACK  of  the  town  there  is  a 
range  of  low  hills,  and  on 
that  part  of  it  to  which  the 
University  of  New  Brunswick 
has  given  the  name  of  College 
Road,  she  used  to  walk  and 
enjoy  its  Canadian  aspect.  It  was  from  that  point 
many  of  her  lovely  sketches  in  color  were  painted. 
Here,  also,  in    the   winter,  she   and    her  husband, 

with    their   dear    friends    the    Misses    R and 

others,  used  to  walk  on  snow-shoes,  and  sit  un- 
der  shelters  made  of  fir  boughs,  going  over  their 
Hebrew  study  together,  or  singing  with  their  keen 
love  for  music.  The  Ewings  greatly  enjoyed  the 
'*  musical  evenings  "  (of  which  she  speaks  in  one  of 
the  letters  printed  here)  spent  with  these  friends 
while  in  Fredericton. 


68  Leaves  from 

In  her  walks  over  these  hills,  and  in  the  gardens 
of  the  town,  she  found  many  new  flower  friends. 

The  Trillium  she  first  saw  here,  and  it  was  a 
great  joy  to  her,  with  its  beauty  and  graceo  After 
returning  to  England  she  had  some  seeds  of  this 
plant  sent  out  to  her,  and  tried  to  grow  it  there, 
and  it  inspired  her  to  write  the  beautiful  legend 
of  "  The  Trinity  Flower,"  in  which  she  immortal- 
izes  this  pure  blossom  of  our  wilds,  thus  describing 
its  beauty :  "  Every  part  was  threefold.  The 
leaves  were  three,  the  petals  three,  the  sepals  three. 
The  flower  was  snow  white,  but  on  each  of  the 
three  parts  it  was  shaded  with  crimson  stripes,  like 
white  garments  dyed  in  blood." 

The  Lily  of  the  Valley  was  another  special 
favorite  of  hers,  and  inspired  the  graceful  legend 
which  she  wrote,  wherein  she  calls  the  plant  "  Lad- 
ders to  Heaven,"  saying,  "  It  hath  a  rare  and  deli- 
icate  perfume,  and  having  many  white  bells  on 
many  footstalks  up  the  stem,  one  above  the  other, 
as  the  angels  stood  in  Jacob  s  dream,  the  common 
children  call  it  '  Ladders  to  Heaven.'" 

She  found  so  many  new  wild   flowers,  that  she 


Mrs,  Ewings  ''Canada  Homer  71 

made  an  extensive  collection,  of  which  she  speaks 
in  one  letter,  and  I  am  told  that  she  also  added  the 
Mellicite  Indian  names  to  her  specimens,  through 
the  aid  of  her  Indian  "  brother"  of  whom  she  speaks. 


•  -.Ml,.         x4.,<r4<«. 
MRS.    EWING's    barn   AND   CANOE. 

Peter  Poultice,  who  came  from  his  encampment 
(there  to-day)  just  across  the  river  to  visit  his  inter- 
ested friends,  the  pale  faces  from  over  the  great 
ocean,  and  to  sell  them  bead  work  and  moccasons, 
as  is  the  custom  of  the  red  brother  here  always. 

They  had  a  canoe  from  him,  and  Mrs.  Ewing 
was  remarkably  fearless  in  this  frail  craft  for  one 
so  unaccustomed  to  such  venturous  boating.  The 
temptations  to  her,  of  the  many  beautiful  views  on 


"ji  Leaves  from 

and  about  this  great  broad  river  St.  John,  and  of 
being  able  with  a  canoe  to  enter  the  lovely  little 
streams  which  flow  into  it,  made  her  enjoy  it 
keenly. 

I  can  fancy  her  delight  in  the  great  beauty  of 
those  two  streams,  the  Nash-waak,  and  the  Nash- 
wa-sis  (or  little  Nashwaak),  known  to  every  canoe 
lover  in  these  parts. 


THE  OLD  NASHWAAK  BRIDGE. 


This  picturesque  bridge  is  the  entrance  to  that 
lovely  little  stream  the  Nashwaak,  which  she 
describes  in  her  letter  that  tells  of  their  picnics 
in  canoes.  It  w^as  evidently  then  as  it  is  now, 
except  that  the  graceful  bridge  has  been  replaced 


Mrs.  Ewings  "  Cayiada  Homer  73 

by  a  hideous  structure,  which  I  am  glad  her  artist 
eye  did  not  have  to  see  in  those  days.  And  to-day 
the  sawdust  from  the  great  ruthless  mill  at  the 
head  of  the  stream  is  fast  filling  up  and  spoiling 
the  beautiful  wavy  stream,  narrowing  it  even  to  the 
exclusion  of  canoes. 


74  Leaves  from 


CHAPTER   VIII. 

ER  great  fondness  for  flowers 
is  seen  all  through  her  writ- 
ings, and  her  "  Letters  from  a 
Little  Garden  "  shows  her  prac- 
tical experience  in  flower  growing 
and  tending.  In  her  books  she  gives  good  ad- 
vice to  other  flower  lovers,  quoting  from  Charles 
Dudley  Warner's  "  My  Summer  in  a  Garden/'  with 
a  full  appreciation  of  its  delicious  humor. 

In  her  verses  and  maxims  for  use  in  garden- 
ing ("  Garden  Lore "),  two  trite  maxims  bespeak 
the  thorough  sympathy  she  had  for  plants  and 
plant  growers.  She  says,  in  this  "  Garden  Lore," 
"  Cut  a  rose  for  your  neighbor,  and  it  will  tell  two 
buds  to  blossom  for  you  ;  "  and  again :  "  Enough 
comes  out  of  anybody's  old  garden  in  autumn  to 
stock  a  new  one  for  somebody  else.     But  you  want 


Mrs.  Ewmgs  "  Canada  Home''  75 

sympathy  on  one  side,  and  sense  on  the  other,  and 
they  are  rarer  than  most  perennials  ! " 

How  sorely  tried  such  a  lover  of  plants  and 
'* little  gardens'*  must  have  been  in  her  life  as 
an  officer  s  wife,  sent  from  post  to  post,  at  having 
to  break  up  her  homes,  leaving  many  little  gardens 
just  started  ! 

How  tenderly,  in  the  letter  written  from  Alder- 
shot  Camp  back  to  Fredericton,  shortly  after  she 
returned  to  England,  does  she  speak  of  her  house 
plants  there,  and  the  care  she  takes  of  them  !  She 
was  very  fond  of  the  dear  old  English  custom  of 
having  house  mottoes ;  and  the  one  reproduced  in 
the  front  of  this  book  she  had  painted  and  framed, 
to  hang  on  the  wall  of  each  new  home :  — 

"  Ui  migratumsy   habitaP 
"  Dwell  as  if  about  to  depart ! " 

Another  favorite  one  of  her  many  house  mottoes 
is  this  cleverly  arranged  Latin  one,  curtailing  one 
word  into  four  meanings :  — 

"  AmorCy   more^   ore^   re.** 
"  By  love,  by  manners,  by  word,  by  action  I " 


76  Leaves  from 

Things  with  meanings  rejoiced  her  heart,  and 
her  own  sweet  namesake  flower,  the  Chinese  Prim- 
rose, which  is  about  her  portrait  here,  was  a 
favorite  with  her;  and  it  seems  to  make  the  little 
primrose  as  familiar  to  us  as  a  choice  potted  plant, 
dearer  and  nearer,  to  know  of  its  association  with 
her.  A  spray  of  this  flower  is  carved  upon  her 
quiet  tomb  at  Trull. 

This  letter  was  written  shortly  after  her  return 
to  England. 

Mrs.  Ewings  Letter, 

25  Feb.,  1870. 
X  Lines  S.  Camp,  Aldershot. 

My    dear    B :    We  were  delighted    to   get 

yours  (and  M.'s)  long  letters.  We  have  many  kind 
correspondents  in  Fredericton,  and  all  the  news 
interests  us.  You  have  had  a  w^onderful  winter. 
Here  we  have  had  a  little  —  so  cold  —  that  frozen 
sponges,  cruelly  killed  plants,  and  cutting  winds 
piercing  our  wooden  walls,  quite  recalled  New 
Brunswick!  ...  I  used  to  take  my  poor  plants 
into  my  bedroom  at  night,  and  cover  them  up  — 


Mrs.  Ewings  ''Canada  Homer  77 

but  all  in  vain ;  they  were  frozen  as  completely 
as  in   D J s  "  old  barn ! " 

But  oh !  I  ^  revel  in  the  spring  days  we  get 
now  from  time  to  time.  I  long  to  see  primroses 
—  and  I  have  not  seen  a  daisy  for  three  years. 
How  I  hope  they  won't  send  us  away  first  to 
"furrin"  parts!  We  still  know  nothing  about  our 
future.  We  have  many  charming  friends  here, 
and  are  very  comfortable.  Mr.  Ewing  has  a  very 
nice  organ  to  play  upon  at  "  All  Saints' "  near 
here.  We  often  go  there  on  Sunday,  for  he  plays 
very  often  at  the  services,  and  there  is  also  a 
Wednesday  evening  service  at  which  he  always 
plays.  But  we  have  very  few  week-day  services, 
and  miss  the  daily  prayer  at  the  Cathedral  very 
much  indeed.  If  at  our  next  station  we  have 
more  "church  privileges,"  it  will  go  far  to  recon- 
cile me  to  the  move.  I  hope  to  go  home  before 
we  settle  again.  Indeed,  we  have  promised  my 
mother  to  do  so  if  all  be  well.  .  .  . 

We  had  an  evening  party  the  other  night  in 
our  tiny  habitation  !  We  turned  out  of  our  bed- 
room   (which   opens  into  the   drawing-room),  and 


"jS  Leaves  from 

I  made  a  pretty  little  coffee-room  of  it.  All  went 
off  very  well,  but  it  seems  dreary  work  to  me  to 
have  a  commonplace  evening  when  we  have  been 
used  to  musical  ones  !  I  fear  we  could  not  get 
one  up  here.  And  then  the  rooms  are  too  small. 
The  dining-room  is  so  narrow  that  we  could  only 
sit  on  one  side  of  the.  supper  table.  .  .  . 

At  the  beginning  of  this  month  I  was  very  busy 
composing  valentines  for  my  sisters,  etc.,  etc.,  and 
Rex  insisted  on  having  one,  so  I  had  to  make 
one  for  him,  of  which  Trouve  was  the  subject! 
That  dear  old  boy  is  very  well,  and  in  fine  con- 
dition. We  have  another  dog  also  living  with 
us,  and  they  are  great  friends.  Trouve  sleeps 
with  us,  and  the  other  sleeps  with  my  maid. 

Do   you   know  whether   the   S s  are   still  in 

Fredericton }  I  have  often  wondered  what  be- 
came of  them  in  the  giving  up  of  the  barracks. 
They  are  very  unpractical — poor  souls — and  I 
.  would  like  to  hear  if  they  were  doing  well  or  ill. 
Can  you  find  out  for  me,  my  dear  ? 

We  are  very  glad  to  hear  how  the  Choral  S. 
holds    on.     The    other   day,  we    and  some  friends 


Mrs,  Ewings  "  Canada  Homer  79 

of  ours  went  to  the  Crystal  Palace,  and  heard 
Mendelssohn s  (Lobgesang).  We  did  enjoy  it! 
One  verse  of  the  choral  was  sung  in  unison  by  all 
voices  (about  two  hundred  and  fifty  or  more). 
Imagine  the  effect !  My  husband  s  love  and  mine. 
Trouve  s  respects  to  Thistle. 

Yours,  dear  B ,  very  affectionately^ 

Juliana  Horatia  Ewing. 


How  like  her  own  dear 
self    is    this     rare    plant, 
coming    from    a  far- 
away land,  but  famil- 
iarizing   itself 
to  us  so  sweetly 
in  an  every-day 


life,  until  now  it  is  a  household  favorite !     It  is  not 
hard  to  understand  the  deep  hold  she  obtained  on 


8o  Mrs.  Ewings  "  Canada  Home," 

the  hearts  of  her  Canadian  friends,  in  the  all  too 
short  years  she  spent  with  us,  on  this  continent. 
And  now,  comes  a  budget  of  her  own  brilliant 
letters  which  we  are  indeed  fortunate  in  secur- 
ing, full  of  a  sweet  personality  and  gayety —  in 
whose  glowing  pages  we  can  see  more  clearly 
into  the  character  and  life  of  our  dear  friend  than 
in  any  other  way  now  possible  to  us.  They  are 
indeed  a  rich  treat,  and  cannot  fail  to  reawaken 
our  love  for  her,  and  to  help  towards  keeping 
that  sweet  memory  "  green  "  in  our  hearts.  In 
fact,  the  sketches  and  letters  taken  together  seem 
to  be  an  autobiography  almost,  written  and  illus- 
trated by  herself,  of  her  life  with  us. 


MAJOR   AND    MKS.    LWING   AND    HECTOR. 


MRS.  EWING'S   LETTERS 

AND 

FAC-SIMILES   OF   HER   WATER-COLOR  SKETCHES 

MADE    WHILE   IN   FKEDEKICTON. 


Mrs.  Ewing's  Letters. 


Fredericton,  New   BRUNS^^'ICK, 
July,  1867. 

My  dear  Mrs.  Ewing,  — .  .  .  Since  we  must 
be  "  abroad  "  somewhere,  I  do  not  think  we  could 
well  have  been  more  fortunate  in  a  station  than 
we  are  in  being  sent  here.  There  is  that  most 
disagreeable  Atlantic  between  us  and  Great  Bri- 
tain, but  otherwise  it  is  in  many  respects  very 
like  home.  We  hear  rather  appalling  accounts 
of  the  winter,  but  we  were  told  awful  things  of  the 
summer  heats ;  and  yet  (except  for  occasional  op- 
pressive days)  we  have  found  it  delightful.  It  is 
rather  blazing  in  the  morning  often,  and  makes 
one  rather  giddy  if  one  attempts  to  walk  much ; 
but  the  evenings  and  nights  are  delicious,  and 
quite  cool.     Fredericton   is  on   the  river,  and  all 


86  Leaves  from 

by  the  river  side  it  is  lovely,  and  we  have  not  yet 
been  able  to  decide  by  what  lights  and  at  what 
time  of  day  it  looks  most  beautiful.  Very  fine 
willows  grow  on  the  bank,  and  the  fireflies  float 
about  under  them  like  falling  stars.  The  moon- 
light and  starlight  nights  are  splendid,  and  the 
skies  are  particularly  beautiful.  We  were  detained 
for  some  days  both  at  Halifax  and  at  S.  John ; 
but  we  are  very  glad  that  our  lot  has  fallen  here 
rather  than  in  either  of  those  places.  Halifax  has 
lovely  country  near  it,  but  S.  John  is  a  town  pure 
and  simple ;  and  I  think  if  one  must  live  in  a 
town  one  likes  it  to  be  as  highly  civilized  a  city 
as  possible.  S.  John  is  more  like  a  watering 
place  without  the  shore.  I  suppose  the  New 
Brunswickers  would  be  duly  indignant  at  my  not 
calling  Fredericton  a  town,  for  it  is  a  city  !  but  it 
is  all  in  lovely  country,  the  streets  are  planted  with 
trees,  and  have  no  names,  and  there  are  very  few 
lamps ;  most  of  them  are  like  shady  lanes,  with 
pretty  wooden  houses  with  (generally)  very  pretty 
faces  at  the  windows !  For  another  attraction 
which   this   place   possesses  is    the    beauty  of   the 


Mrs,  Ewings  "  Canada  Home''  87 

women,  both  of  the  upper  and  lower  classes.  Not 
that  we  have  seen  any  one  very  beautiful  woman 
(such  as  one  sometimes  sees  at  home)  but  that, 
almost  every  girl  you  meet  is  \try  pretty^  and  very 
gentle  and  sweet  looking.  The  young  ladies  have 
particularly  pleasant,  unaffected  manners,  too.  .  .  . 
The  ferns,  flowers,  mosses,  and  lichens  in  the 
woods  about  here  are  most  beautiful,  and  it  is  an 
utterly  new  pleasure  to  me  to  find  so  many  plants 
I  have  never  seen.  In  fact,  the  botany  of  these 
parts  seems  richly  luxuriant,  and  to  have  been 
very  little  investigated.  I  have  dried  a  few  things 
in  my  blotting-books,  etc.,  but  we  have  no  appara- 
tus with  us.  However,  we  have  ordered  two 
boards  at  the  carpenter's  for  a  press,  and  when 
we  have  out  a  box  from  England  we  shall  have 
some  proper  paper  and  portfolio  sent  —  and  I  hope 
we  shall  be  able  to  bring  home  some  specimens 
of  the  beautiful  things  out  here.  For  want  of 
proper  means  to  preserve  those  we  first  got,  I 
have  been  making  rough  coloured  sketches  of 
them  in  a  note-book  of  Alexander's  which  we  have 
devoted   to  the  purpose ;   and  whenever  we  meet 


88  Leaves  from 

anybody  who  seems  likely  to  be  knowing  on  the 
subject,  we  ask  the  names  of  the  flowers.  Some 
have  exquisite  perfumes,  which,  unhappily,  one  can 
neither  figure  nor  preserve  !  One  almost  wonders 
that  more  plants  from  this  country  are  not  culti- 
vated in  England,  as  whatever  can  stand  these 
winters  would  well  live  with  us.  We  have  just 
heard  of  some  wonderful  orchids  in  a  bog  two  or 
three  miles  away,  and  I  am  greatly  impatient  to 
get  at  them,  for  vegetation  is  so  rapid  here,  —  the 
flowers  are  out  and  then  gone  in  a  day  or  two.  .  .  . 
I  am  sending  you  a  small  sketch  of  our  house, 
and  also  one  from  a  hasty  sketch  I  made  in  my 
note-book  as  we  came  up  the  river  into  Frederic- 
ton.  It  was,  in  fact,  our  first  view  of  our  new 
home.  .  .  .  You  cannot  think  how  lovely  it  is 
coming  up  the  river  from  S.  John  to  this  place. 
The  colouring  is  so  exquisite,  the  sky  and  clouds 
are  so  beautiful,  the  pine  woods  look  at  times  the 
richest  purple  in  the  distance ;  and  the  foliage  of 
the  white  birches,  and  brushwood,  and  grass  near 
the  shore,  was  of  most  vivid  pale  greens  when 
we  came    up.       I    suppose    in    autumn,    when    the 


Mrs.  Ewings  "  Canada  Home''  89 

maple  trees    turn   scarlet,  it  will   be   lovelier  still. 
People  say  that  whatever  you  may  have  heard  or 
read  about  American    woods   in  autumn,   nothing 
but   seeing    them   can    give   you   an    idea   of    the 
wonderful  brilliancy  of  their  colours.  .  .  . 
.     I  must  tell  you  about  our  house.     You  will,   I 
think,  be  amused  at  its  palatial  appearance ;  it  is 
much    larger    than    necessary,    though    Rex    justly 
says   I   always  give  it  a  more  magnificent  appear- 
ance  on    paper  than    it    really   possesses.     It   fiaSy 
however,    twenty-one    rooms   in    it  I !    though    they 
are  not  very  large  ones.     He  could  keep  an  hotel 
—  or  invite  my  seven  brothers  and  sisters  to  visit 
me.     We   talk   of   giving    Trol  (the   dog)   a   bed- 
room, sitting-room  (and  he  might  have  a  dressing- 
room ! )  to  himself  when  he  arrives.     Don  t  think 
us    quite    mad  1     We    had    much    humbler    inten- 
tions, but  it  fell  out  thus:    When   we  arrived  we 
w^ere  told  we  should  have  to  wait  a  long  time  for 
a   house,  as    none  were  vacant ;  of   course    it  was 
desirable    to   get    one   as   soon   as   possible.     The 
second  day,    Rex   discovered    this   one,  which  was 
in  a  fearful  state  of  disrepair,  but  was  being  put 


90  Leaves  from 

in  order  by  the  landlord ;  he  took  it,  and  we  are 
only  furnishing  just  what  we  want.  It  has  many 
great  advantages.  It  is  in  the  best  situation  we 
could  have  chosen,  there  is  a  well  of  good  water, 
we  have  very  nice  neighbours,  and  we  are  close 
to  the  Cathedral.  We  are  not  overlooked,  and 
have  a  lovely  lookout  over  the  river,  with  a  ferry- 
boat just  opposite  to  our  front  door.  There  is 
ample  space  for  a  good  garden,  and  our  landlord 
is  building  us  a  huge  sort  of  barn,  which  I  fancy 
is  to  embrace  coach-house,  stables  etc.,  and  which 
(as  we  possess  no  equipage)  I  think  will  have  to 
be  devoted  to  the  pig  we  purpose  to  keep ;  he 
will  consequently  have  as  much  spare  space  as 
ourselves  I  Fancy  Alexander  coming  in  yesterday 
and  announcing  to  me  his  intention  (please  the 
pigs!)  of  fattening  a  porker  for  Christmas!!  An 
officer  has  told  him  that  a  young  pig  may  be 
bought  for  half  a  dollar,  and  live  on  the  house- 
hold refuse  till  Christmas,  and  then  either  be 
killed  or  sold.  As  we  neither  of  us  like  pork,  I 
think  otiv  "  little  pig  will  go  to  market  I  "  Most 
opportunely    in     turning    out    his    (very    untidy) 


Mrs,  Ewings  "  Canada  Homey  91 

drawers  yesterday  he  found  a  half  dollar  which 
had  been  there  since  he  was  in  China,  so  we  may 
look  upon  the  pig  as  purchased  —  so  to  speak. 

August  ist,  1867.     "Reka  Dom," 
Fredericton,  N.  B. 

My  dearest  Father, —  I  am  going  to  write  to 
you  this  time.  .  .  .  We  have  had  some  very  rainy 
weather,  and  some  uiiensely  hot  (even  Rex  allow- 
ing that  it  was  overpowering  and  like  China). 
To-day,  a  cloudless  sky  and  brilliant  sun,  but  a 
refreshing  breeze;  and  what  breeze  is  to  be  got, 
we  get,  —  living  by  the  river.  Did  I  tell  mother 
of  that  beautiful  thunder-storm  we  saw  just  before 
leaving  our  last  hotel }  The  sky  had  been  of 
such  a  blue  as  I  never  saw,  —  a  pure,  intense, 
opaque,  speedwell  colour.  It  seems  a  poor  compari- 
son, but  it  reminded  me  of  the  blue  which  they 
use  on  church  or  cathedral  roofs  with  golden 
stars,  and  which  is  usually  deeper  and  more  intense 
than  the  sky  which  it  represents.  On  this  were 
wonderful  cumulus  clouds  of  splendid  tints. 
One  grand  mass  standing  off  in  awfully  powerful 


92  Leaves  froTn 

relief,  against  a  golden  glow,  reminded  us  of 
Sinai,  when  the  mount  burned  with  fire,  and 
one  expected  to  see  the  tables  of  the  law  appear. 
These  mountainous  masses  faded  after  sunset, 
and  then  two  other  currents  of  very  electrical 
appearance  touched  each  other,  and  till  dark 
we  watched  them  emitting  the  loveliest  lightning 
I  ever  saw.  The  sheet  lightning  was  incessant, 
and  the  forked  ran  among  it  and  cleft  the  clouds 
in  the  most  lovely  way.  They  had  a  ludicrous 
resemblance  to  two  gigantic  and  wonderful  fire- 
stones  perpetually  rubbed  together.  Rex  fetched 
me  to  see  this  storm  from  the  other  side  of  the 
house,  where  I  was  frantically  splashing  paint 
on  to  paper,  trying  to  catch  the  sunset  sky, 
against  which  stood  off  one  of  the  houses  they 
build  here  for  the  swallows.   ... 

Last  Thursday  we  went  to  dine  at  Government 
House,  the  first  time,  —  about  twenty-two  people, — 
and  as  we  were  in  the  very  worst  of  our  difficulties 
a  capital  dinner  was  an  absolute  treat!  The  gene- 
ral introduced  me  to  the  Bishop,  and  he  took 
me    in    to    dinner.     I    enjoyed    it  immensely,    for 


Mrs,  Ewings  **  Canada  Home''  93 

he  is  very  clever  and  awfully  amusing,  and  told 
me  the  funniest  anecdotes.  He  has  been  away 
until  now,  but  next  day  he  and  Mrs.  Medley 
called  on  us,  and  we  like  them  both  extremely. 
Mrs.  Medley  told  us  some  clergyman  has  been 
raving  in  their  house  about  mothers  writings, 
and  had  said  that  whole  pieces  were  taken  out 
of  Aunt  Judy's  Magazine  into  American  news- 
papers, sometimes  without  an  acknowledgment. 
When  he  went  away,  the  Bishop  looked  at  me 
in  his  point-blank  way  and  said,  very  kindly,  after 
his  rather  awkward  fashion,  "  If  you  would  like 
to  see  Maryland  Church,  I  will  drive  you  there, — 
not  to-morrow,  Saturday  is  a  busy  day  with  me, 
but  next  week."  Is  n*t  it  kind  ?  So  I  expect  we 
shall  probably  get  to  see  some  of  the  country  in 
very  good  company.  Yesterday  he  preached  both 
A.  M.  and  p.  M.,  and  I  really  doubt  if  any  of  our 
English  swells  beat  him,  on  the  whole.  The  learn- 
ing, the  logic,  the  irrepressible  irony  at  times,  the 
intense  simplicity,  and  the  exquisite  touches  of 
pathos,  I  hardly  think  Oxon,  VaugKan,  Eber,  or 
anybody   could   excel.     He  preached  a.  m.  on  the 


94  Leaves  from 

"  whole  creation  groaning,"  etc.,  and  brought  out 
a  forcible  and  (to  me)  new  idea,  —  that  if  we  had 
been  alive  in  any  of  the  periods  of  great  "  disturb- 
ance "  of  the  physical  world  (the  glacial  or  vol- 
canic, etc.),  our  faith  would  probably  have  failed 
to  foresee  the  physical  beauty  and  order  that 
would  come  out  of  it  all :  the  rocks  on  the 
sunny  hillside,  the  waters  in  their  own  places, 
the  flowers,  etc.,  etc. ;  and  that,  although  the  divi- 
sions of  the  Church  of  Christ,  the  distractions  and 
confusions  and  inconsistencies  which  make  Chris- 
tianity seem  almost  useless,  the  darkness  of  dis- 
pensations and  all  the  disturbance  of  the  moral 
world,  make  one  inclined  to  give  up  hope,  we 
were  to  draw  comfort  from  creation.  He  had 
been  charmingly  sarcastic  in  the  hastiness  and 
almost  invariable  erroneousness  of  mans  very 
self-satisfied  judgment  of  providence  in  all  times  ; 
but  there  was  a  sort  of  grave  authority  that  was 
very  impressive  as  he  admonished  us  that  since 
God  had  loved  His  lower  creation  so  well  as  to 
bring  such  beautiful  order  out  of  such  ghastly 
confusion,   He  would  brinor  out    of  all    the    moral 


Mrs.  Ewing's  *'  Canada  Home'"  95 

disorder  and  disturbance  a  new  heaven  and  a  new 
earth    for    those    whom    Jesus    died    to    redeem. 
Towards   the   end  he  gave   a   practical   turn,  and 
speaking  of  the  love  of  Christ,  —  '*  a  love  such  as 
no  earthly  friend  can  feel  for  us,  suffering  as  no 
earthly   friend    ever    suffered    for    one,    interced- 
ing  as   no   earthly  friend    can   plead,  a  Home  at 
last  such   as    no    one    who   loves    us  can   provide 
here,  however  they  may  wish   and  try."     He  uses 
very    simple,    forcible    language,    has    a    voice    as 
soft  as  Vaughan's,  and    it    is    as  clear  as  a   bell. 
He  hardly  ever  lifts  his  eyes,  and  uses  no  action 
whatever.     His  premises  and  deductions,  his  biting 
bits  of  sarcasm,  and  his  touches  of  pathos  go  down 
the  Cathedral  without  the  slightest  assistance  from 
"delivery;"  but    they  are  just  the  reverse  of  the 
style  of  sermon   which   Goulburn    calls  "  like  the 
arrow   shot   at   a    venture    that   hit  King   Ahab," 
with  the  difference  that  they  seldom  hit  anybody 
in    particular.     When   he  is  most  severe  he  looks 
so  awfully  innocent,     p.  m.  he  preached  on  Rizpah, 
the  daughter  of  Aiah,  and  the  execution  of  SauFs 
sons.     It  was  cleverer  than  the  other,  —  one  of  the 
ablest   bits   of    Biblical   criticism    one  ever  heard. 


96  Leaves  from 

Rex  said  the  composition  seemed  to  him  so  per- 
fect. It  really  is  a  wonderful  piece  of  good  fortune 
to  be  under  him.  He  has  been  out  here  twenty- 
two  years  (or  more,  —  I  forget),  and  he  turns  up 
at  the  7.30  A.  M.  daily  services,  and  walks  into  the 
Cathedral  with  a  pastoral  staff  much  bigger  than 
himself.  Tell  Regie  I  have  got  a  "  relic  "  for  him 
which  I  will  send  him.  It  is  a  bit  of  lichen  from 
the  nameless  grave  of  one  of  the  first  settlers  here. 
In  old  Judge  Parker's  garden  (a  very  pretty  place, 
with  a  lovely  peep  of  the  river  through  trees,  like 
an  Italian  lake),  in  a  field,  are  the  graves  of  the 
first  settlers.  On  one  are  some  rudely  cut  initials, 
the  last  being  "  B."  It  was  really  an  affecting 
sight,  amid  the  prosperity  to  which  this  lovely 
spot  has  attained.  One  imagines  how  beautiful 
it  must  have  looked  to  their  eyes  as  a  spot  to 
''  settle "  in.  We  have  made  out  a  great  many 
both  of  the  ferns  and  flowers,  and  we  have  a  good 
many  in  press,  and  to-day  I  am  going  to  try  and 
get  some  paper  to  "  fix  "  them  in.  .  .  . 
Ever,  my  dearest  Father, 

Your  loving  daughter, 

J.    H.    EwiNG. 


Mrs,  Ewings  "  Canada  Home,''  97 

iiTH  Sunday  after  Trinity,  1867. 

We  have  the  most  charming  room,  with  two 
windows  looking  east  to  the  river;  Rex  says  the 
view  beats  the  Lake  Hotel  at  Killarney !  He 
wakes  at  unearthly  hours,  and  lies  wrapt  in  the 
enjoyment  of  using  a  telescope  in  bed!!  He  kept 
us  awake  from  3  a.  m.  the  first  morning,  looking 
at  the  view,  and  indeed  it  was  lovely,  —  the  white 
mist  rolling  off  the  river,  sunrise  behind  the  pine 
woods  and  willows,  and  canoes  coming  down 
reminding  one  of  Hiawatha's  "  Like  a  yellow  leaf 
it  floated."  They  do  look  just  like  autumn  leaves 
floating  on  the  water.  I  don't  think  Rex  will 
exist  long  without  one !  .  .  . 

Last  Friday  we  were  asked  to  Government  House 
for  a  picnic.  .  .  .  We  went  across  the  river,  and  by 
water  up  the  Nashwaak  Cis.  (i.  e.,  Little  Nashwaak), 
and  landed  at  a  very  pretty  spot,  where  we  ate 
luncheon  off  such  lovely  old  china  I  wonder  his 
Excellency  had  the  heart  to  risk  it  at  a  picnic! 
The  A.  D.  C.  lent  Rex  his  own  boat,  that  Rex 
might  row  me  there.     I  told  him  I  must  have  a 

7 


98  Leaves  from 

good  wrap  and  got  a  buffalo  robe  to  keep  me  warm, 
and  sat  like  a  queen  in  the  stern.  There  were  lots 
of  canoes  and  a  few  boats,  .  .  Coming  back  down 
the  Cis  it  was  lovely,  half  dark,  and  the  canoes 
gliding  past  among  the  shadows.  The  Cis  was 
very  narrow  and  required  careful  steering.  I  got 
some  new  water  lilies.  When  we  got  into  the  big 
river  again,  the  wind  was  very  high,  and  it  was 
nearly  dark,  and  the  waves  w^ere  quite  wonderful. 
.  .  the  canoes  found  it  tiresome  work.  There  was 
a  dance  afterwards  at  Government  House,  but  we 
left  in  good  time,  and  walked  home.  About  half- 
past  one,  I  was  roused  by  Rex  asking  if  anything 
w^as  the  matter.  I  could  hear  nothing,  but  he  ex- 
claimed, "  It's  the  fire-bell !''  and  jumped  up  like  a 
shot. 

[I  must  tell  you  that,  the  day  the  Medleys  left, 
the  Bishop  told  us  that  he  had  told  his  next-door 
neighbour  where  the  church  plate  was,  in  case  of 
a  fire,  and  what  he  specially  wished  to  be  saved, 
adding  that  the  man  had  looked  at  a  long  box  and 
said  :  "  Is  this  valuable  }  "  "  Very,"  said  the  Bishop, 
"  What  is  it }      Music  ?  "  on  which,   as  the   Bishou 


Mrs,  Ewin£s  "  Canada  Homey  loi 

said  he  did  not  seem  to  see  it,  Rex  said,  "  Well,  if 
there  s  a  fire,  /  must  save  the  music."] 

Well,  when  I  went  into  the  bath-room  and  saw 
the  blaze  in  the  sky,  it  seemed  to  me  to  come  from 
the  Medleys,  so  I  told  Rex.  "  Then  I  must  save 
the  anthems!"  he  cried  in  a  thunderous  voice  (it 
was  almost  amusing),  and  off  he  went.  We 
could  n't  find  matches,  so  he  dressed  in  the  dark, 
and  in  the  dark  I  was  left.  I  could  hear  the 
peculiar  roar  of  the  fire,  and  see  the  flames  rising 
up  through  the  open  window.  I  got  awfully 
lonely,  so  I  awoke  *'  Sarah  "  with  much  difficulty  and 
got  a  light,  and  told  her  to  make  a  fire  and  get  tea 
ready  for  Rex  when  he  returned,  and  went  back  to 
the  window  to  watch.  Time  went  on,  the  fire  got 
larger,  and  no  Rex  returned.  At  last  I  got  so 
nervous  I  wrapped  up,  left  the  house,  took  my 
maid  with  me,  and  went  ofif  to  find  the  fire,  —  and 
Rex !  When  we  got  to  the  Cathedral  and  Bishops- 
cote  happily  it  was  not  there,  so  on  we  went.  Fire 
is  very  delusive  at  night,  and  I  may  as  well  say  it 
was  in  the  position  of  the  Bishops  palace,  only 
about  a  quarter  of  a  mile  or  more  further  up  the 


I02  Leaves  from 

town.  As  we  2:ot  nearer  we  seemed  to  be  ooinsj 
into  the  blaze  of  falling  sparks,  and  at  last  we  found 
it.  We  had  passed  the  place  an  hour  or  so  before  ! 
It  was  a  square  called  Phoenix  Square,  and  how 
many  times  it  has  risen  from  its  own  ashes  I  know 
not,  but  the  other  half  of  the  square  was  burned 
down  just  before  we  came,  and  when  Sarah  and 
I  reached  the  spot,  not  one  stone  was  left  upon 
another,  or  rather  not  one  plank,  for  it  was  wood, 
of  course.  But  a  large  building  at  the  corner,  —  a 
brick  house,  offices,  ■ —  which  had  held  out  sometime, 
was  in  full  blaze.  It  was  a  wonderful  sight.  The 
flames  poured  out  of  the  windows,  and  licked  round 
the  walls,  reminding  one  of  the  fire  that  licked  up 
the  water  in  the  trench  round  Elijah's  sacrifice. 
Rex  was  with  the  other  officers,  keeping  an  eye 
on  the  fuel-yard  which  was  near,  and  from  which 
soldiers  were  employed  in  sweeping  away  the  burn- 
ing embers  as  they  fell.  It  was  most  providential 
that  the  wind  set  over  the  river  instead  of  over  the 
city,  otherwise,  being  a  dry  night,  high  wind,  and 
the  fire  engines  about  as  available  as  a  boy's  squirt, 
probably  two-thirds  of  the  town  would  have  gone. 


Mrs,  Ewings  "  Canada  Homer  103 

An  almost  comical  element  (as  one  didn't  suffer 
one's  self)  was  to  see  the  spectators,  who  kept  get- 
ting the  falling  sparks  into  their  eyes,  going  about 
with  pocket-handkerchiefs  to  their  faces.  Also  a 
small  boy  who  laid  a  complaint  to  Major  Graham 
against  the  soldiers  who  were  protecting  the  rescued 
property,  because  they  would  n't  give  him  some 
small  article  that  belonged  to  him.  The  disgusting 
part  is  that  these  fires  are  said  to  be  almost  always 
the  work  of  incendiaries.  .  .  . 

Your  loving  sister, 

J.    H.    EWING. 


17  August,  1867. 
Reka  D<^Nr."  Frfdertcion. 


My  dearest 
Mother, —  .  .  .  Now 
I  must  tell  you  all 
our  news.  First  about 
the  Episcopal  family. 
You  know  they  have 
been  away  for  five 
weeks,   and    we    met 


I04  Leaves  from 

them  first  at  Government  House.  Since  then  they 
have  certainly  done  their  best  to  make  up  for 
lost  time,  in  the  way  of  kindness,  and  it  is  not 
the  least  of  the  many  blessings  of  my  home  here 
to  have  such  very  kind  people  about  one,  as  our 
neighbours  in  general  are,  and  such  unusually 
good,  intellectual,  and  friendly  friends  as  the  Med- 
leys. He  was  a  friend  of  John  Newman,  and 
associated  with  him  in  working  at  the  Lives  of 
the  Fathers,  etc.,  and  Newman's  secession  was  a 
great  grief  to  him.  He  is  awfully  fond  of  music, 
and  composes  chants,  etc.  He  is  a  fluent  Hebrew 
scholar,  and  is  certainly,  as  I  told  you,  one  of  the 
ablest  preachers  I  ever  heard.  He  has  been  very 
near  to  Qfoino:  home  to  the  council  that  is  to  be 
held  at  Lambeth,  only  he  could  not  make  out  that 
the  subjects  of  discussion  had  been  settled,  so  was 
not  certain  that  it  would  come  to  much,  and  had 
confirmations  here,  and  did  not  like  to  bring  Mrs. 
Medley  back  in  winter,  for  she  is  nearly  as  bad  a 
sailor  as  I  am,  or  you  might  have  seen  them,  and 
heard  of  us.  They  are  great  admirers  of  yours. 
Especially  they  are  devoted  to  the  Parables.     Mrs. 


Mrs^  Ewin/s  "  Canada  Homey  105 

Medley  told  me  to-day  they  owe  you  so  much,  she 
was  delighted  to  do  anything  for  your  daughter;  so 
you  see,  dear  mother,  you  have,  so  to  speak,  pro- 
vided me  a  motherly  friend  in  these  distant  parts. 
She  is  a  great  gardener  and  a  botanist,  and  litho- 
graphs a  little.  .  .  .  They  are  going  away  again 
on  a  Confirmation  tour  directly,  but  meanwhile  we 
see  them  constantly  ;  they  ask  us  in  perpetually  to 
meals,  and  send  us  vegetables  and  flowers.  I  need 
hardly  say  that  Rex  and  Episcopus  himself  are 
pretty  inseparable  at  "  the  instrument,"  and  that 
Rex  is  appointed  supplementary  organist,  and  has 
joined  the  choir.  He  is  going  to  play  at  the  anni- 
versary festival  next  Sunday,  and  the  choir  gener- 
ally are  quite  as  much  edified  and  charmed  to  see 
the  author  of  "  Jerusalem,"  and  quite  as  much  as- 
tonished to  find  (and  still  a  little  sceptical)  that 
"  Argyle  and  the  Isles  "  was  not  the  composer,  as  if 
we  all  were  living  in  a  small  English  watering 
place.  This  you  would  anticipate ;  but  you  would 
hardly  expect  to  hear  that  the  Bishop  evolved  and 
propounded  to  me  the  proposal,  that  if  I  would 
teach  him  German  this  winter,  he  would  teach  me 


io6  Leaves  from 

Hebrew.  He  buys  books  evidently  with  an  appe- 
tite, and  will  lend  us  any^  so  we  are  well  off  to 
an  extent  that  seems  marvellous  and  is  truly 
delightful 

We  have  free  access  to  the  Provincial  Library 
here.  This  is  an  admirable  theological  and  grave 
library,  all  Jeremy  Taylor  s,  and  almost  every  ordi- 
nary theological  reference  book,  besides  Greek  and 
Hebrew  grammars  and  lexicons.  I  am  absolutely 
the  only  member  at  this  present  time !  At  the 
present  moment  I  have  all  "  Nature  and  Art  "  (for 
the  water-colour  lessons,)  and  Rex  has  Blunts 
"  Undersigned  Coincidences "  from  the  Bishop. 
I  have  Harding's  "Lessons  on  Art"  and  a  book 
on  colour  from  the  Provincial,  and  Alex.  Knox 
from  the  Cathedral,  libraries.  We  only  want  a 
.  modern  foreign  library  to  be  perfect,  so  as  to  get 
at  Schiller,  or  Faust  for  the  Bishop.  As  it  is,  we 
mean  to  put  him  through  Grimm  !  !  ! 

I  am  just  now  very  busy  upon  an  interior  of  the 
Cathedral,  at  which  I  work,  while  Rex  practises. 
I  have  got  some  good  hints  from  Harding's  book 
about    drawing    the  arches,   etc.     I  got    dreadfully 


Mrs.  Ewings  ''Canada  Homer  107 

grieved  at  my  stupidity  over  the  colouring  about 
here.  I  do  wish  I  were  a  better  artist!  and  Rex 
thinks  I  have  gone  back  rather  than  forward. 
However,  I  have  got  some  good  books  here,  and 
I  mean  to  work  hard  this  winter  indoors.  I  think 
my  "  interior "  looks  wonderfully  promising  so 
far. 

I  am  going  to  save  seed  of  all  the  wild  flowers 
I  can,  and  shall  send  it  home,  so  have  a  nice  sunny 
bit  got  ready  to  sow  them  in  !  You  know  what 
lives  here  will  live  with  you,  and  some  of  the 
flow^ers  are  truly  lovely.  Spotted  yellow  lilies  and 
splendid  Michaelmas  daisies  grow  wild,  and  a 
lovely  white  flower,  something  like  a  white  foxglove 
(a  Chelone  glabra!),  which  I  hope  will  seed  itself 
like  a  foxglove,  and  so  be  easily  grown.  Beautiful 
spireas  too ;  and  oh !  the  pitcher  plants  grow  here, 
but  we  have  not  seen  them.  One  plant  held  four 
or  five  quarts  of  water,  they  tell  us. 

Your  loving  daughter, 

J.    H.    EWING. 


io8  Leaves  from 

October,  1867. 
My  dearest  Mother,  —  I  wish  you  could  come 
in  this  moment !  I  have  got  a  nice  wood  fire  in 
my  grate  (for  it  is  a  coolish  morning,  one  of 
those  clear  fresh  mornings  that  I  fancy  we  shall 
have  pretty  consistently  through  the  autumn).  1 
am  afraid  I  shall  hardly  have  time  this  mail,  but 
I  must  make  you  a  sketch  of  my  room  !  "  Sarah  " 
has  a  great  admiration  for  my  table  of  little 
things  (of  which  she  always  leaves  the  dusting 
to  me).  She  says  "Mrs.  Coster"  (her  former 
mistress)  "had  a  great  many  little  things,  too,  not 
so  many  as  you,  ma'am,  but  then  she  was  burnt 
out  three  times ;  but  any  little  things  she  did 
save  she  was  very  choice  of.  She  saved  one  plate 
out  of  her  dessert  service."  The  coolness  with 
which  people  regard  being  "  burnt  out "  here  is 
amazing ! !  The  day  of  the  fire  Sarah  was  telling 
me  all  sorts  of  "  burning  out "  anecdotes.  Some 
people  seem  to  be  under  a  sort  of  evil  spell  as 
regards  it.  "  The  fire  hunts  him  everywhere." 
There  is  a  certain  man  she  told  me  of,  and  wher- 
ever   he   settles    fire    follows    him ! !       One    could 


Mrs,  Ewings  ''Canada  Homer  109 

make  a  splendid  Salamander  story  from  it  in  the 
Edgar  Poe  style !  One  comical  idea  one  can 
quite  understand,  viz.,  that  as  much  is  broken  as 
burnt  in  these  fires  often.  Sarah  told  me  of  one 
in  which,  in  his  anxiety  to  save,  a  man  flung  a 
fine  mirror  out  of  the  window  into  the  street,  to 
save  it  from  the  flames.  Of  course  it  was  smashed 
to  shivers ! 

I  have  got  you  a  dial,  and  mean  to  make  the 
sketch,  and  send  it  herewith.  It  is  in  the  garden 
of  a  little  old  lady  here,  a  Mrs.  Shore.  She  is 
very  tiny  and  very  old.  She  goes  to  the  7.30  ser- 
vice like  clockwork,  has  a  garden,  paints  life-size 
portraits  in  oils ! !  and  complains  that,  *'  between 
housekeeping,  literature,  and  the  fine  arts,  she 
never  has  time  for  anything."  I  sat  v/ith  her  last 
night  for  a  bit.  *'  Do  you  find  the  days  long 
enough,  my  dear  }  "  "  Not  one-half,"  I  said  ;  "  but 
they  say  the  winter  is  long."  "  You  will  never 
find  it  long  enough,  my  dear." 

The  woods  now  are  lovely.  The  autumn  tints 
are  beyond  describing,  or  colouring.  One  day  I 
began  a  sketch,  but  it  is  most  unsatisfactory,  and 


I  lo  Leaves  from 

now  it  is  raining,  and  I  am  so  afraid  of  getting 
no  more  opportunity.  A  tree  stands  off  against 
a  grey  woody  background,  and  it  is  a  brilliant 
yellow  and  crimson.  Sometimes  a  whole  tree  is 
canary  colour,  and  another  near  it  one  uniform 
rich  deep  red,  another  like  bronze,  and  so  on. 
They  are  not  all  so  by  any  means,  of  course;  but 
in  the  "  College  Grove,"  as  it  is  called  (which  is 
something  like  a  beautiful  bit  of  English  pasture, 
and  park,  and  wood  scenery),  are  the  loveliest 
varieties  of  colour. 

I  had  a  jolly  drive  with  the  Medleys  the  other 
day.  We  got  out  and  went  across  country  a  bit, 
over  hedges  and  ditches,  and  I  sketched  a  little  at 
intervals.  Once  I  said,  "  I  really  hope  we  may 
be  here  another  summer,  that  I  may  get  some  of 
these  trees  done,"  and  the  Bishop  groaned,  "  Don't 
talk  of  another  summer !  you  must  stay  here  for- 
ever." Rex  is  still  at  the  organ,  and  the  Bishop 
bristles  with  new  chants.  Rex  is  at  work  on  a 
Christmas  anthem  ;  words  my  choosing. 

Recit,    and  Bass    Solo.    "  And    Balaam    said :    I 
shall  see  him,  but  not   now.     I  shall  behold   Him, 


Mrs,  Ewings  "  Canada  Home''  1 1 1 

but  not  nigh.  Alto  Solo.  There  shall  come  a 
Star  out  of  Israel.  {Chorus.  A  Star  out  of  Israel). 
Quartet.  Thy  throne,  O  God,  is  forever  and  ever. 
A  Sceptre  of  Righteousness  is  the  Sceptre  of 
Thy  Kingdom."  Final  chorus  not  decided  on.  I 
must  stop. 

Your  loving  sister, 

J.  H.  E. 

January  26,  1868. 
My  dearest  Mother,  — ...  I  must  tell  you 
about  the  sleigh  drive.  It  was  given  by  Col. 
Harding  (who  is  the  temporary  governor  as  well). 
The  etiquette  of  such  affairs  is,  that  the  leader 
drives  wherever  he  likes,  and  the  other  sleighs  must 
go  after  him.  (They  say  General  Doyle  used  to 
go  into  the  most  audacious  places  to  try  and  upset 
the  tandems !)  The  young  men  ask  the  young 
ladies  to  drive  with  them  as  they  would  ask  them 
to  dance,  and  we  old  couples  go  Darby  and  Joan 
together.  Rex  got  a  nice  little  sleigh  with  buffalo, 
robes  in  it,  and  the  horse  went  capitally.  We  met 
before  the    House  of  Assembly,  and  kept  driving 


112  Leaves  from 

round  and  round  in  circles  till  all  assembled  (about 
twenty-six  sleighs).  Then,  bells  ringing,  red  tassels 
waving,  away  we  went.  The  colonel  took  us  in 
and  out  about  the  town,  but  no  really  nasty  places, 
and  then  into  the  barrack-yard,  where  the  soldiers 
cheered,  and  his  horses  got  so  unmanageable  that 
he  and  his  young  lady  nearly  came  to  grief ;  then 
out  into  the  open  country.  I  don't  think  I  ever 
saw  anything  much  prettier  than  the  line  of  jingling 
sleighs,  flying  over  the  snowy  roads,  with  the  pure 
fields  of  snow  on  all  sides  broken  by  the  dark  firs 
and  country  homesteads.  Once  we  went  up  a 
narrow  hill  meet  to  be  drawn  by  Dore  (or  rather 
Dore  might  give  one  a  faint  idea  of  its  beauty), 
snow  pure  white  before  us  and  under  our  feet,  and 
great  dark  firs  on  each  side  almost  touching  over 
our  heads.  We  stopped  at  a  country  inn,  where 
lunch  was  prepared,  sandwiches  and  hot  spiced 
negus,  and  very  jolly  we  were,  Rex's  "  tscho-ga,'' 
which  he  wore  over  his  coat,  exciting  considerable 
admiration. 

Do  you  know  we  mean  to  "  flit  "  this  May  !     It 


Mrs.  Ewings  "  Canada  Homer  1 1 3 

will  be  a  grief  to  part  with  the  lovely  views  from 
this  dear  old  Reka  Dom,  but  it  is  too  huge  and 
too  cold  in  winter,  and  burns  enough  fuel  to  — 
well,  as  one  of  Rex's  men  said,  "  It  would  take  a 
major-general's  allowance,  sir!"  We  have  our  eye 
on  a  comfortable  little  house  close  by,  with  garden, 
and  eight  rooms  in  it,  and  they  say  well-built  and 
convenient. 

Your  loving  daughter, 

J.  H.  E. 

22  March,  1868. 
People  are  very  kind.  I  was  walking  to  church 
when  Dr.  Ward  met  us,  going  off  on  a  professional 
drive.  He  turned  out  his  man,  took  me  into  the 
sleigh,  and  drove  me  to  the  Cathedral  before  pro- 
ceeding on  his  way,  that  I  might  not  have  to  wade 
through  the  snow.  Mrs.  Shore  (the  lady  with  the 
dial  in  her  garden;  says  (she  comes  regularly  to 
the  daily  services  with  small  regard  to  the  weather) 
that  she  thinks  Providence  always  sends  somebody 
to  help  her  home.  In  this  weather  she  needs  some 
one,  and  Rex  occasionally  tenders  his  arm  ! 

8 


114  Leaves  from 

Mrs.  Shore  (the  dial  lady)  is  as  lively  as  ever. 
We  have  a  little  joke  every  day  almost  after  morn- 
ing prayers.  I  say,  "  Mrs.  Shore,  allow  me  to  be 
your  particular  Providence,'  and  she  says,  "  My 
dear,  I  was  looking  for  you,"  and  I  give  her  my 
arm  to  take  her  home  over  the  slippery  ice. 

Easter  Tuesday,  1868. 

Dear  little  Mrs.  Shore  I  told  you  about.  We 
have  been  so  grieved  the  last  week,  as  she  has  been 
very  ill.  On  Good  Friday  she  was  given  up,  but 
with  some  difficulty  the  Bishop  obtained  leave  to 
see  her.  They  told  him  that  it  was  no  use,  as  she 
was  unconscious  etc.  ;  however,  she  revived  when 
he  went  in,  and  he  bathed  her  face  with  eau-de- 
cologne,  and  she  revived ;  and  he  sent  Mrs.  Medley 
to  her,,  who  has  been  nursing  her  since,  and  she  is 
now  recovering.     Today,  much  better. 

April  26,  1868. 

Poor  dear  little  Mrs.  Shore  was  buried  on  the 
day  of  the  snow-storm.     Such  a  wild  day,  I  was  not 


Mrs,  Ewings  "  Canada  Homer  1 1 5 

able  to  go  to  her  funeral,  for  which  I  was  sorry. 
The  choir  went  in  black,  and  sat  in  their  places. 
Rex  went,  and  played  the  Dead  March,  and  went 
on  to  the  cemetery.  I  went  to  see  her  after  she  was 
dead.  It  was  a  lovely  little  face.  It  is  to  me  very 
comforting  to  see  how  faces  that  have  been  marred 
by  the  struggle  of  life,  and  disfigured  by  the  odds 
and  ends  of  mortality  (queer  caps,  and  wrappings, 
mannerisms,  and  traces  of  illness,  etc. !),  become 
beautiful  in  the  peace  of  death  without  becoming 
unrecognizable.  Don't  you  know  .'^  I  saw  so  clearly 
what  a  pretty  girl  Mrs.  Shore  must  have  been,  and 
it  makes  one  understand  how  hereafter  one  may 
be  beautiful,  and  yet  recognized.  There  were 
lovely  fiowers  in  the  room,  and  a  saucer  of  salt 
on  her  breast.  I  fancv  she  must  have  been  laid 
out  by  an  Irish  nurse.  We  all  feel  very  much  for 
poor  Miss  Garnison;  she  has  lost  a  happy  home. 
She  will  remain  here  a  bit,  and  Rex  will  give  her 
some  lessons  on  the  organ.  -  • 

Mv  DEAREST  D.,  —  ...  Rex  has  got  a  pair  of 
snow  shoes,  and  a  pair  are  ordered  for  me  !     Peter 


1 1 6  Leaves  from 

Poultier,  our  Indian  brother,  guffawed  loudly  at 
the  idea  of  my  having  them,  and  says,  "  She  'II 
make  them "  (i.  e.,  his  squaw).  You  should  have 
seen  Rex  wading  about  on  the  deep  snow  of  our 
garden  the  other  night,  —  the  Costers,  Sarah,  and 
I  watching  him.  Everybody  said  we  should  tumble 
down  at  first,  and  Rex  said  he  must  have  out  the 
orderly  to  pick  him  up.  "  Hartney  "  !  "  Yes,  sir." 
"  Be  ready  in  the  garden  to  pick  me  up  when  I 
fall !  "     "  Yes,  sir." 

Tell  D.  that  the  ankles  are  quite  equal  to  snow- 
shoeing,  which  is  a  thousand  times  easier  than 
skating,  though  Captain  Poulton  did  yell  with 
laughing  so  loud  that  I  told  him  he  could  be 
heard  at  S.  John.  The  first  time,  he  saw  me  in 
them,  about  a  quarter  of  a  mile  off,  and  would 
give  no  further  account  of  himself  than  "  Mrs. 
Ewing  in  snow-shoes,  wading  up  a  bank,  was  too 
many  for  his  feelings."  But  I  believe  that  my 
"  carriage  "  is  rather  graceful  than  otherwise  on 
them !  Rex  says  I  go  like  a  squaw,  which  is 
really    a    compliment,    though    the    gait    is    more 


Mrs,  Ewin^s  **  Canada  Homer  1 1 7 

peculiar  than  absolutely  beautiful.     A  sort  of  up- 
right, easy  swing  of  a  walk  1 1 ! 

•  •  •  •  • 

I  hope  Rex's  Easter  Anthem  will  be  very 
successful.  It  begins  with  a  Bass  Recit.  Solo: 
"  Very  early  in  the  morning  on  the  first  day  of 
the  week,  they  came  unto  the  sepulchre."  (Trio 
of  women  s  voices) :  "  They  have  taken  away  the 
Lord,  and  we  know  not  where  they  have  laid  Him." 
{Alio  Solo — Angel):  "Why  seek  ye  the  living 
among  the  dead  .^  He  is  not  here."  (Clionis)', 
"  He  is  not  here.  He  is  risen."  {Chorus) :  "  He  is 
risen."  It  ends  with  a  full  chorale :  "  Christ  is 
risen  from  the  dead,  and  is  become  the  first- 
fruits  of  them  that  slept.     Alleluia,  Amen." 

Rex  has  got  some  lovely  songs  lately.  A  lot 
of  F'ranz's  and  of  Schumann's.  The  way  those 
men  "marry  music"  to  Heine's  "immortal  verse" 
is  wonderful.  You  really  would  enjoy  the  exqui- 
site delicacy  with  which  some  of  Heine's  gems  are 
set. 


ii8  Leaves  from 

First  Sunday  after  Epiphany,  1868. 
The  other  night  I  looked  out  and  saw  that  the 
moon  was  shining  on  the  snow,  looking  exactly 
as  if  the  river  had  opened,  and  there  was  a  water- 
surface.  This  was  because  the  intense  frost  had 
.  crusted  and  glazed  the  snow  on  the  river  so  that 
it  reflected.  Meanwhile  a  high  wind  was  blowing 
what  loose  snow  there  was  in  w^hite  wreaths  hither 
and  thither.  The  Indians,  by  the  bye,  call  Feb- 
ruary "  the  moon  in  which  there  is  crust  on  the 
snow."  One  really  hardly  knows  w^hat  snow  is  in 
England.  It  is  so  dry  here  it  is  like  dust,  and  is 
blown  about  the  streets.  It  takes  a  considerable 
time  to  melt  when  you  get  it  into  the  house,  and 
of  course  does  not  wet  your  feet  or  clothes  out 
of  doors  unless  it  is  thawing.  We  keep  little 
brooms  in  the  halls  here  to  brush  the  snow  from 
our  feet  and  clothes  when  we  come  into  a  house. 
November  is  called  "  the  moon  in  which  the  frost 
fish  comes,"  by  which  I  suppose  are  meant  the 
"  cusks  "  (as  they  call  them  here),  a  very  nice  fish 
we  get  when  the  river  closes.  The  men  cut 
holes  in  the  ice  and  get  them  out.     I  don't  know 


Mrs,  Ewings  ^^  Canada  Homer  119 

the  process,  though  I  have  seen  them  in  the 
distance.  I  suppose  the  fish  come  to  the  hole 
attracted  by  the  light,  but  I  don't  know.  Rex 
says  they  had  them  in  the  north  of  China. 


18  March,  1868. 
The  bull  dog  is  just  barking  at  the  avalanches 
of  snow  that  keep  shooting  off  the  roof  with  a 
roar  like  thunder.  For  we  are  in  the  middle  of 
a  thaw,  and  after  being  about  35°  below  zero  last 
Monday  morning,  to-day  it  is  50°  above,  and  the 
ice  is  beginning  to  thaw  upon  the  river;  however, 
I  fancy  it  will  all  harden  up  again.  A  priest  was 
ordained  to-day,  and  there  were  two  awful  ava- 
lanches during  service.  Such  a  noise  it  does 
make.  The  musical  abilities  of  our  clergy  were 
brought  into  effective  use  to-day,  for  they  and 
the  Bishop  sang  their  own  lines  of  the  Veni 
Creator,  the  choir  singing  the  alternate  ones. 
The  effect  was  really  most  impressive.  Costers 
fine  bass,  Mr.  Pearson's  sweet  tenor,  etc.,  and  the 
Bishop  s  hearty  voice  support  alternate  lines  with 


1 20  Leaves  from 

ample  power,  and  it  was  very  pretty,  the  men's 
voices,  as  they  all  stood  round  the  new  priest, 
and  then  the  response  of  the  choir.  It  was  to  a 
simple  old  psalm  tune. 

I  must  add  to  my  list  of  friends  our  new  neigh- 
bours, or  rather  "  Over-the-ways  "  —  two  very  old 
ladies  who  were  among  the  first  settlers,  (The 
Loyalists  came  here  and  "  settled  "  in  Fredericton 
in  17 —  alas  !  I  forget;  '^'^  I  think).  There  was  one 
old  wooden  church  in  those  days,  and  terrible 
battles  about  pews,  which  were  put  up  to  auction 
in  the  church,  and  principal  residents  insisting  on 
having  pews  of  double  size.  The  parson  lived  on 
the  other  side  of  the  river,  and  one  day  he  came 
over  in  a  birch-bark  canoe  and  went  back  the 
same  way,  and  was  never  heard  of  again.  Miss 
Bailey  remembers  that  on  June  ist,  being  the 
King's  birthday,  they  fired  cannon  over  the  river 
to  raise  the  body,  but  it  was  not  found  for  eight 
days.  When  the  Bishop  came,  people  went,  once 
to  church  on  Sunday,  and  in  the  afternoon  paid 
visits  and  played  cards.  You  may  imagine  the 
storm  created  by  his  insisting  on  free  seats. 


Mrs.  Ewings  "  Canada  Home' 


121 


July  7,  1868. 
.  .  .  How  I  wish  for  you  on  moonlight  nights  in 
the  canoe.     The  other  night  we  went  out  before 
sunset  and  stayed  late.     The  sunset  was  wonderful, 


and  whilst  the  crimson  was  still  deluging  the  sky 
and  river,  the  moon  looked  through  it  like  a  ghost. 
We  went  up  the  Nashwaak  Cis  (Little  Nashwaak, 
a  tributary  of  S.  John),  and  lay  to  close  to  a  large 
green  bullfrog,  who  looked  at  us,  but  never  moved. 
A  bittern  was  groaning  in  the  ferns  by  the  bank 
(masses  of  Onoclea),  and  song  birds  were  singing 
everywhere.     We  came  out  into  the  S.  John  as  the 


122  Leaves  from 

moon  rose,  and  finally  two  other  canoes  joined  us, 
and  we  flew  up  and  down  through  the  water,  and 
then  lay  to  and  listened  to  the  22nd  band  through 
the  mess  room  windows.  Does  n't  it  seem  funny 
to  you  to  fancy  me  paddling  on  a  great  beautiful 
river  like  this?  Rex  and  I  go  alone  now  (I  bow, 
he  stern),  and  enjoy  ourselves  amazingly  — 

August  29,  1868. 
.  .  .  How  thankful  I  am  that  my  letters  have 
somewhat  counteracted  the  Bishop  s  vivid  descrip- 
tion of  the  climate !  In  this  glorious  autumn 
weather  it  does  indeed  seem  a  "  need  not  "  for  you 
to  be  distressing  yourself,  as  you  sit  in  the  fogs  of 
dear  old  Yorkshire,  about  us  in  our  bright  clear 
atmosphere.  .  .  .  For  a  short  sojourn,  and  with  no 
necessity  for  fifty  miles'  journeys  in  sleighs  and 
such-like  fatiguing  expeditions,  we  are  simply  un- 
speakably fortunate  in  the  climate.  I  hope  I  told 
you  that  snowshoeing  is  an  amusement,  like  skating^ 
and  that  there  is  tio  more  necessity  for  me  to  snow- 
shoe  on  this  river  than  there  ever  was  for  me  to 
skate  on  the  dam !     I  thoroughly  enjoy  it.     People 


Mrs.  Ewings  ''Canada  Homer  123 

make  parties  to  snowshoe,  and  splendid  fun  it  is. 
Why,  WE  PICNIC  in  the  winters  here,  which  is  more 
than  you  do  at  home !  Picnic  in  the  woods,  and 
hot  spiced  claret  supersedes  champagne  cup! 
And  sometimes  girls  meet  and  make  snowhouseSy 
inside  which  you  are  as  warm  as  an  Esquimaux. 
I  talked  of  having  one  last  winter  to  sketch  from, 
and  this  one  perhaps  I  shall !  .  .  . 

Monday,  31.  Such  a  lovely  day!  As  Mrs. 
Medley  said  to  me  this  morning  as  we  came  out 
of  church,  "  It  is  a  splendid  climate!  We  have  so 
few  dull  days,  so  many  clear  bright  ones ! "  Did 
I  tell  you  of  our  latest  picnic?  No.  It  was  the 
jolliest  we  have  had,  I  think.  We  took  the  Parrys 
in  our  canoe.  I  had  a  little  funked  it,  it  was  so 
hot,  and  I  sometimes  get  a  headache  from  the  sun, 
and  when  we  paddle  against  stream  and  wind  I 
can't  use  an  umbrella,  and  we  had  a  good  many 
miles  to  go  about  midday.  But  we  found  an  old 
"  puggaree "  of  Rex's,  of  Constantinople  days, 
fastened  it  on  to  my  hat,  and  it  answered  perfectly. 

We  had  a  charming  day.  I  did  a  little  sketch- 
ing, and  we  came  home   by   moonlight,   fourteen 


1 24  Leaves  from 

canoes  lashed  together.  We  were  in  the  middle, 
so  Rex  and  Capt.  P.  were  idle,  except  that  Rex 
"  conducted  "  the  singing  with  a  paddle !  We  had 
a  good  many  comic  songs,  and  some  part  singing. 
The  most  interesting  to  me  was  a  song  sung  by 
Gabriel,  the  Indian,  a  curious  wild,  monotonous, 
plaintive  affair,  but  wonderfully  in  keeping  with 
the  motion  of  the  canoes,  and  the  plash  of  the 
water  in  the  moonlight. 

October  12,  1868. 
My  dearest  D.  :  —  The  paper  is  up  ! ! !  I  leave 
you  to  imagine  my  feelings.  I  told  you  how  Mrs. 
Medley  and  I  had  felt  ourselves  cut  out  by 
"  Bluenoses "  when  we  found  that  Mrs.  D.  and 
Miss  P.  Q,o\3Xdi  paper  and  we  could  not!  Where- 
upon (having  found  a  cheap  paper  in  a  stationer's 
shop  where  Rex  was  music-hunting)  I  determined 
to  paper  our  dining-room ;  and  as  Mrs.  D.  was 
on  a  visit  to  Mrs.  M.,  I  called  to  draw  out  a  few 
incidental  instructions  in  the  course  of  conversa- 
tion!! I  found  Mrs.  M.  had  been  before  me,  and 
had    papered    a    closet ! ! !     The    two    ladies    an- 


Mrs,  Ewmgs  ''Caiiada  Home!'  125 

nounced  their  intention  of  calling  in  to  see  how 
I  got  on,  and  after  church  on  Friday  morning, 
having  borrowed  steps  of  Mrs.  L.  and  an  old 
whitewash  brush  of  Mrs.  C,  and  having  cut  a 
good  many  rolls  of  paper  over  night,  I  donned 
my  old  blue  print,  and  sent  for  the  orderly  to  take 
out  the  picture  nails.  He  began — "When  the 
man  that 's  going  to  paper  comes,  ma'am  "  —  and 
I  felt  very  proud  to  shut  him  up  with  "  /  'm  the 
man  that  s  going  to  paper,  Hartney  "  (in  a  parlia- 
mentary sense  of  man  ! !).  Just  then  the  bell  rang, 
and  he  came  back  with  a  very  solemn  face  —  "  It 's 
the  Bishops  lady,  mum!!"  —  leaving  her  at  the 
door.  However,  the  B.'s  lady  and  Mrs.  D.  ended 
by  working  with  me  till  lunch,  which,  though  it 
diminishes  my  credit,  decidedly  accelerated  the 
work.  They  were  intensely  good,  and  we  got 
fully  half  done.  Next  day  Mrs.  D.  and  Miss  J. 
came  and  helped  me,  and  late  on  Saturday  evening 
I  finished  it  off  myself.  I  think  it  looks  quite  as 
well  as  the  other  papers. 


126  Leaves  from 

S.  John's  Day,  1868. 
...  I  will  tell  you  how  we  spent  our  Christmas. 
It  did  not  promise  very  brightly,  for  the  cold 
which  seemed  to  hang  so  unaccountably  about 
me,  turned  out  to  be  a  sort  of  epidemic  variety 
of  influenza,  i.  e.  influenza,  without  any  cold  in 
the  head,  but  feverish  discomfort  and  a  sort  of 
throat  affection,  something  like  mumps  in  a  mild 
form  outside,  and  swelling  within  also ;  in  fact, 
"  mumps,  lumps,  and  dumps  "  about  sums  it  up ! 
"  Everybody "  has  had  it.  ...  I  did  not  get  to 
church  on  Christmas  Day,  but  that  was  our  only 
drawback,  and  we  were  so  jolly  and  comfortable 
that  we  had  a  delightful  day.  On  Christmas  Eve 
we  were  sitting  on  the  landing  by  the  dumbstove, 
when  (very  late)  a  ring  came  at  the  door,  and  a 
parcel  was  put  into  Rex's  hands  by  an  unknown 
*'  party."  It  was  a  very  pretty  plated  coffee  pot, 
and  ditto  butter  cooler,  with  a  note  to  the  effect 
that  some  members  of  the  choir  beQ:ged  him  to 
accept  this  little  Christmas  gift  as  a  very  small  mark 
of  their  gratitude  for  his  kindness  in  taking  so 
much  trouble  with  them.     This  was  rather  a  pleas- 


Mrs,  Ewings  "  Canada  Homer  1 2  7 

ant  beginning  to  Christmas,  was  n't  it  ?  Rex  had 
previously  dressed  the  house  with  some  "  pricknig  '* 
thoughtfully  sent  by  Mrs.  Medley,  and  had  carried 
me  round  the  house  to  see  the  effect.  I  had  had 
some  fun  sending  Hetty  shopping  for  our  turkey 
and  various  odds  and  ends  of  Christmasings.  On 
Christmas  eve,  also,  "  Peter  Poultice,"  our  Indian 
brother,  gave  us  a  call,  and  Rex  took  the  oppor- 
tunity to  buy  me  a  pair  of  bead-worked  moccasins, 
the  first  smart  pair  I  have  had.  Then  I  sent 
him  up  the  town  to  his  favourite  "  store "  to  buy 
a  piece  of  music  as  a  Christmas  box  from  me  to  him, 
and  he  returned  with  "  Israel  in  Egypt,"  and  an 
American  stereoscope  for  me.  .  .  .  Then  in  the 
evening  Rex  went  downstairs  and  played  "  Chris- 
tians, awake"  lovelily  with  all  kinds  of  stops  and 
different  effects,  and  I  sat  upstairs  by  the  dumb- 
stove,  and  was  not  entirely  in  Canada,  as  you  rnay 
fancy!  He  did  this  for  me  last  year.  When  he 
had  done  he  came  up  again,  and  said  he  hoped  he 
would  play  that  for  me  every  Christmas  Eve,  wher- 
ever we  were,  even  when  he  was  an  old  man  and 
his  old  fingers  trembled  on  the  keys.     It  was  after 


128  Leaves  from 

that  the  testimonial  came.  Then  the  R.  C.  bell 
began  to  chime  for  midnight  Mass,  and  Hetty  went 
to  bed,  and  Rex  read  the  evening  service  with  me 
as  Christmas  Eve  passed  into  Christmas  Day.  .  .  . 
I  am  at  this  moment  waiting  for  the  Bishop, 
with  whom  I  am  going  to  communicate  with  the 
*'  Loyalist  Ladies."  They  are  two  very  old  ladies 
who  live  in  a  cottage  opposite.  Their  father  was 
one  of  the  loyalist  Americans  who  left  the  States 
to  settle  in  Canada  when  the  States  rebelled ;  I 
mean  in  the  old  American  War.  They  were  some 
of  the  first  settlers  in  Fredericton.  The  two  sisters 
are  a  single  lady  (Miss  Bailey)  and  a  widow 
(Mrs.  Emmerson).  They  called  me  their  "  little 
neighbour,"  and  are  pleased  to  look  very  favourably 
on  me,  and  they  like  me  to  come  when  they  receive 
the  Holy  Communion,  which  they  do  from  time 
to  time,  as  they  never  go  out  now.  I  accuse  Rex 
01  a  penchant  for  Miss  B.  and  a  flirtation  from 
his  dressing-room  window.  She  is  immensely  old, 
ninety  —  something,  but  on  dit  that  she  does  not 
like  it  to  be  supposed  that  she  is  so  old.  However, 
she  likes  me,  though  I  was  injudicious  enough  to 


Mrs,  Ewings  "  Canada  Homer  1 29 

enquire  how  the   first  French  Revolution  affected 
this  Province  from  her  experience !  .  .  . 

April  10,  1869. 

.  .  .  Rex  has  been  appointed  conductor  of  the 
Choral  Society.  There  have  been  two  nights 
under  the  new  baton,  and  the  people  are  delighted. 
"We"  are  to  give  a  concert  shortly,  and  you  shall 
have  a  programme.  Rex  is  writing  a  thing  with 
an  "  invisible  chorus  "  on  the  words  of  Miss  Proc- 
ter's "  Vision."  Mr.  Roberts  (basso  prof  undo)  is 
to  take  the  first  part  (solo),  half  the  chorus  is  to 
take  the  mourner's  song  "  on  the  stage,"  Mrs. 
Rowan  (soprano)  is  to  take  the  second  part  (solo), 
and  the  other  half  of  the  chorus  will  sing  the 
Angels'  song  "  behind  the  scenes."  I  am  to  be 
with  the  party  in  front  so  as  to  hear  the  invisible 
chorus.  It  seems  so  strange  to  have  so  much  to 
do  with  concerts  and  choir  here,  and  not  to  be 
able  to  have  any  oi  you  in  them  !  I  want  the  ladies 
to  be  dressed  in  uniform,  and  hope  it  may  come  to 
pass.  We  shall  probably  all  be  in  white,  with 
different  coloured  ribbons  for  sopranos  and  altos. 

9 


1 30  Leaves  from 

April  17,  1869. 

My  dearest  Father,  —  1  wanted  to  adorn  your 
letter,  but  I  fear  I  have  not  succeeded.  The  illustra- 
tion is  by  way  of  giving  you  an  idea  of  the  finest 
"  aurora  "  I  have  ever  seen.  I  have  been  a  little 
disappointed  with  the  want  of  colour  in  the  auroras 
I  have  seen  here  hitherto,  and  they  have  only 
occupied  part  of  the  heavens;  but  on  the  15th, 
from  8  to  9  P.  m.  (with  us)  the  above  was  visible, 
and  poured  from  the  zenith  to  the  horizon,  north, 
south,  east,  and  west.  In  the  west  the  rays  were 
beautifully  coloured,  and  the  sky  looked  as  rosy 
as  after  sunset  or  a  fire  in  the  woods.  Against 
this  the  "  young  moon  in  the  old  moon's  lap  "  over 
the  dark  chimney  tops  of  the  Rectory,  was  certainly 
a  lovely  sight.  The  magnetic  storm  seemed  to 
rage  in  some  places,  and  the  general  brilliancy 
faded  from  time  to  time,  and  then  burst  out  again 
in  vivid  streams  at  particular  points.  It  began  in 
the  south,  and  passed  northwards,  not  a  usual 
thing  here.  In  fact,  it  was  altogether  more  like  an 
Australian     aurora,     Rex     says.       The    lovely    (or 


Mrs,  Ewmgs  "  Canada  Homer  1 3 1 

rather  grand)  feature  was  the  corona  at  the  zenith 
above  our  heads.  It  changed  as  ceaselessly  as  the 
rays,  —  sometimes  obscured.  A  dark  mass  would 
suddenly  rifi  with  an  effect  like  one  of  Martin's 
boldest  imaginations  in  his  Milton.  The  rays  were 
sharpest  near  the  corona,  and  then  again  near  the 
horizon.  It  was  like  standing  under  a  tent  of 
celestial  proportions,  where  the  curtains  showed 
light  and  shadow  as  they  rustled.  Occasionally 
in  the  west  the  rosy  tint  was  mixed  with  greenish 
and  yellow  rays,  never  very  brilliant  that  we  saw, 
but  we  did  not  see  it  at  the  very  best,  I  believe.  .  . 
The  Bishop  said  he  had  not  seen  such  a  one  for 
twenty  years. 

Rose  Hall,  Fredericton,  N.  B. 
8  May,  1869. 

.  .  .  This  is  our  new  nest ;  it  is  a  lovely  summer 
resting  place.  We  take  it  by  the  month,  and  there 
seems  a  fair  prospect  of  our  not  having  to  move  at 
any  rate  for  two  or  three  months,  but  there  is  no 
certain  news  for  anybody  as  yet.  .  .  .  We  get  more 
and  more  pleased  with  our  present  arrangements. 


132  Leaves  from 

It  is  a  great  point  to  have  big  airy  rooms   in   the 
hot  summer  here/ 

June  14,  1869- 
We  have  at  last  had  a  John  Gilpin  jaunt  in  our 
honeymoon,  and  it  has  been  enjoyable.  .  .  The 
contractor  for  the  board  of  the  men  on  lookout  for 
deserters  to  the  States,  stationed  at  the  outpost  at 
Eel  River,  having  fortunately  chosen  this  lovely 
season  for  failing  to  fulfil  his  contract,  Rex  had  to 
go  there  on  business,  and  I  accompanied  him  for 
pleasure !  .  .  .  We  had  never  been  "  up  river " 
before,  except  ten  miles  or  so  in  canoe.  The 
"  boats  "  only  run  in  the  spring  and  autumn  fresh- 
ets. We  left  here  at  5.15  a.  m.,  and  got  to  Eel 
River  about  2  p.  m.  (sixty  miles  or  so).  It  was 
lovely,  though  the  "  black  fly  "  hardly  left  us  alive  ! 
We  spent  the  night  at  the  inn,  took  the  boat  again 
on  Tuesday  morning,  and  came  down  river  (forty- 
eight  or  fifty  miles  down).  /  landed  at  Crock's 
Point,  where  Mr.  Bowling  met  me  in  his  ''  wagon  " 

1  These  desolate  ruins  are  all  that  are  now  left  of  the  Rose  Hall 
Mrs.  Ewing  knew  and  loved,  as  the  place  was  destroyed  by  fire  some 
seven  years  ago. 


Mrs.  Ewmgs  ''Canada  Homer  135 

(the  four-wheeled  "gig"  of  the  country),  and  Rex 
went  on  to  Fredericton  for  the  Choral  Society's 
practice.  At  Douglas  we  had  some  dinner,  and  in 
the  afternoon  Mr.  D.  having  to  visit  a  sick  man  in 
his  Keswick  district,  he,  I,  and  Mrs,  Dowling 
squeezed  into  the  wagon  and  drove  eighteen  miles 
through  lovely  country,  on  such  a  beautiful  evening. 
I  saw  the  Keswick  Church  (to  the  consecration  of 
which  Rex  went  in  the  winter  of  1867),  a  very  nice 
little  one.  Coming  back  poor  Mr.  D.  had  "  hard 
times "  of  it  with  me  and  his  wife,  for  we  had 
brought  a  trowel,  and  we  found  "  ladies'  slippers  " 
and  other  treasures  not  so  common  close  at  hand, 
and  it  seemed  very  doubtful  if  we  could  get  home 
before  dark,  though  it  is  midsummer!  Old  "  King," 
Mrs.  D.'s  dog,  was  with  us  and  enjoyed  him- 
self greatly.  When  we  came  in,  we  found  Mr. 
Hannington  en  route  home  from  a  drive  in  his 
wagon.  People  exercise  unlimited  hospitality  of 
its  quiet  kind  in  the  country,  and  he  stayed  all 
night.  We  meant  td  go  to  bed  very  early,  but  we 
ended  in  sitting  up  rather  early!  in  the  study, 
discussing      Tennyson,     Handel,     miracle     plays, 


1 36  Leaves  from 

Jeremy  Taylor,  table  turning,  etc.  Somebody 
promised  to  "  call  "  Mr.  H.,  who  had  to  drive  fifteen 
or  sixteen  miles  to  Jones's  Island,  where  Rex  was 
to  be  deposited  by  the  morning  boat  from  Fred- 
ericton.  Happily  he  called  himself,  for  we  were 
all  too  thoroughly  done  up  to  wake  early.  Mrs.  D. 
and  I  went  out  and  botanized  till  a  little  after 
dinner  time,  and  then  she  and  I  got  into  the 
wagon,  packed  my  traps,  took  King,  and  bid 
Dousflas  adieu,  and  drove  to  Prince  William.  It 
is  about  sixteen  miles,  and,  as  we  had  a  "  wait  "  at 
the  ferry,  we  did  not  get  there  till  8  p.  m.,  when  the 
Hanningtons  and  Rex  had  almost  given  us  up. 
They  had  a  roast  turkey  for  us,  and  w^e  had  a  capi- 
tal dinner  and  were  much  refreshed,  but  so  sleepy 
all  the  evening  that  I  discovered  as  in  a  dream  that 
Mr.  Hannington  was  prizeman  for  botany  at  the 
college  here,  and  that  he  exhibited  to  me  a  very 
ingenious  press,  and  gave  me  some  splendid  speci- 
mens of  brown  trillium.  Again  we  all  faithfully 
promised  to  "  call  "  each  other,  and  rolled  into  bed. 
We  started  off  again  next  day,  Mr.  H.  and  I 
packed  into  his  wagon,  Mrs.  Dowling  and   Mrs.  H. 


Mrs.  Ezvi7tgs  ^''Canada  Homer  137 

into  the  DowHngs' ;  Rex  rode  the  spare  horse,  and 
away  we  went.  It  was  a  twenty  miles'  drive,  and 
part  of  the  time  the  sun  was  very  hot,  and  I  had 
to  take  off  my  grey  cloak  and  put  the  table  cloth 
round  me  to  turn  the  sun.  As  we  crept  up  the  last 
hill  (through  country  more  like  our  moors,  saving 
that  the  hills  and  slopes  are  covered  not  with 
heather  but  the  illimitable  forest),  Mr.  H.  wildly 
begged  me  to  shut  my  eyes.  I  kept  them  closed 
till  we  were  on  the  summit  and  by  the  church.     It 

looks  down  on "  Killarney  on  a  larger  scale," 

says  Rex,  the  distant  ranges  not  so  high  in  propor- 
tion, but  a  wide,  wide  beautiful  lake,  dotted  with  fir 
covered  islands  deep  down  in  the  valley  below  the 
church.  On  the  other  side  it  looks  down  on  an 
ocean  of  unbroken  forest,  softening  into  purple  and 
blue  with  distance,  but  "  woods,  woods,  woods." 
Against  this  background  far  down  the  little  quaint, 
white-painted  Magundy  Church  shines  like  a  star; 
around  the  church  is  a  churchyard  (if  you  knew 
how  often  settlers  bury  their  people  in  their  own 
gardens,  etc.,  as  if  they  were  their  old  horses  or  pet 
dogs,  you  would  know  the  value  of  the  sight !)  full 


138  Leaves  from 

of  white  stones  and  with  clumps  of  the  apple-green 
osmundas  on  the  graves.  All  Saints  will  be  a 
very  pretty  church.  (N.  B. —  It  is  not  built  of  logs, 
but  of  wood  like  the  houses,  and  very  pretty.)  It 
is  roofed  in,  and  is  to  be  consecrated  in  September. 
One  grave  is  already  in  the  churchyard,  among  the 
wild  strawberry  blossom  and  the  fern,  that  of  a  very 
good  girl  and  a  communicant.  We  picnicked  in  the 
valley  below  the  lovely  trees.  Then  we  went  on 
to  the  lake,  and  it  is  lovely.  The  shore  is  gleaming 
white  sand  {porphyry,  says  Mr.  H.,  and  it  is  lovely 
stuff ;  I  brought  a  handkerchief  full  to  put  in  my 
aquarium).  Out  of  the  sand  grow  blueberry  plants. 
Mr.  H.  "  whipped  off "  his  shoes  and  stockings 
and  walked  about  so  along  the  shore.  When  we 
returned  our  horse  had  escaped,  and  the  men  had 
to  hunt  for  him.  I  dug  up  flower  roots  with 
dogged  persistency,  though  the  mosquitos  and 
black  fly  bit  me  till  I  rushed  madly  to  the  lunch 
basket,  grabbed  the  butter,  smeared  my  face  and 
hands  all  over,  and  —  went  back  to  the  trilliums  ! 
Tell  Stephen  I  saw  fourteen  different  species  of 
fern    that   I   knew  in    that   one    drive,    and    I    got 


Mrs,  Ewmgs  "  Canada  Homer  1 39 

pitcher  plants  (full  of  rain  water!),  etc.  Well,  we 
got  our  horses,  Mr.  H.  rode,  and  Rex  drove  me. 
When  we  got  back  to  All  Saints  I  went  over  it, 
and  then  went  back  into  it  again  to  use  it  as  a 
house  of  prayer  for  once,  for  the  strange,  sad  feeling 
is  we  shall  probably  never  see  it  again.  Coming 
out,  I  found  that  Rex  had  been  adjuring  the  old 
iron  grey  "  Dolly "  on  the  subject  of  men  and 
beasts  praising  the  Lord.  He  is  delighted  with  the 
church,  and  he  and  I  are  to  give  the  prayer  desk. 
One  of  the  people  had  prepared  a  tea  for  us  at 
Magundy,  so  we  did  not  get  home  till  nearly  mid- 
night, and  twenty  miles  in  the  dark,  through  woods, 
do  seem  U7icommo7ily  long.  Next  day  we  drove 
to  the  river  bank,  canoed  to  Jones's  Island,  took 
the  boat,  and  came  home. 

July  II,  1869. 

.  .  .  On  Wednesday  evening  I  had  the  Cathe- 
dral Choir  and  the  members  of  Rex's  Friday  class 
to  tea,  nearly  forty  people.  I  went  into  the 
market  and  secured  a  lot  of  the  wild  strawberries, 
which  are  just  beginning,  butter,  etc.,  borrowed 
china  and   glass  of   my  friends,  and   all  went  off 


140  Leaves  from 

very  successfully.  The  music  (it  was  a  practice) 
was  very  good.  I  wish  you  could  hear  the  move- 
ment from  Rex's  anthem  of  "  When  the  Lord 
turned  again  the  captivity  of  Sion  "  —  "  He  that 
now  goeth  on  his  way  weeping."  Mrs.  Rowan 
sings  it  beautifully,  and  the  chorus  of  "  They 
that  sow  in  tears  shall  reap  in  joy "  was  really 
fine.  .  .  . 

July  has  been  altogether  an  exciting  month  to 
us.  The  paper  I  send  will  speak  for  itself  as  to 
the  second  concert,  which  was  most  successful. 
I  only  wanted  some  of  your  dear  old  faces  to 
reflect  my  pride  and  pleasure  at  the  way  people 
heaped  praise  and  applause  on  Rex's  head.  Mr. 
Roberts  broke  down  in  reading  the  address,  which 
I  now  keep  in  a  sacred  drawer.  It  is  a  most  ele- 
gant affair,  tied  with  red  ribbon.  But  the  upset- 
ting thing  was  when  the  Bishop  left  the  audience 
and  came  up  on  to  the  platform.  He  had  known 
nothing  about  it,  and  his  "  say  "  was  of  course  all 
impromptu  ;  the  newspaper  does  it  no  manner  of 
justice.  When  he  turned  his  loving  face  on  Rex 
to    bid    him    good    bve,    it   was  —  well,    what    the 


Mrs,  Ewmgs  "  Ca7iada  Homer  141 

whole  thing  was  —  almost  more  than  one  could 
bear.  We  are  going  to  scramble  in  another  con- 
cert before  the  month  is  out,  if  all  be  well,  and 
we  suspect  there  is  to  be  another  ''demonstra- 
tion" then!! 

10  August,  1869. 

Fredericion,    N.  B*^. 

Our  very  dear  Mother,  —  We  would  fain 
spare  you  the  uncertainty  which  is  the  shady  side 
of  our  wandering  life.  But  (as  we  have  often 
reason  to  say)  "  one  can't  have  everything."  Up 
to  yesterday  afternoon  we  hoped  and  believed  that 
this  very  day  we  should  begin  the  journey  that, 
please  God,  is  to  end  in  the  old  nest;  but  it  is 
not  to  be  for  a  little  bit  yet.  We  hope,  however, 
that  it  is  only  deferred  for  a  few  weeks.  We  felt 
rather  "  knocked  over  "  yesterday  evening,  but  all 
right  to-day.  I  had  rather  dwelt  on  the  joy  of 
sending  you  a  telegram  from  Liverpool  in  place  of 
a  letter  across  the  Atlantic;  but  still  we  feel  keenly 
enough  how  much  —  how  very  much  —  we  have 
to   be  grateful  for ;    and   if  we  are  allowed  to  go 


142  Leaves  from 

home  this  time,  I  shall  make  few  grumbles  as  to 
route,  vessel,  everything  else,  I  promise  you ! 

.  .  .  On  Tuesday  evening  the  Choral  Society 
gave  a  small  concert,  where  Sir  James  Carter  sat 
smiling  in  the  front  ranks,  and  Major  Cox  sat 
meditative  by  the  door!  After  the  Hallelujah 
Chorus,  the  Bishop  came  forward  and  in  the 
name  of  the  society  gave  Rex  a  silver  cup  and 
a  watch  chain.  The  cup  is  very  light  and  artistic, 
very  pretty  indeed,  and  beautifully  engraved  with 
an  inscription  on  one  side,  and  a  "  design "  of 
musical  instruments  on  the  other.  The  chain  is 
simple  and  pretty.  The  people  were  wonderfully 
kind,  and  are  forever  bemoaning  our  departure. 
.  .  .  It  is  very  pleasant  to  get  a  kind  word  and 
a  hearty  regret  from  every  tradesman  one  pays 
off  and  every  friend  we  say  good  bye  to.  .  .  . 
Poor  Mrs.  Medley  broke  down  so  bitterly  in  con- 
gratulating me  on  going  home  to  my  mother, — 
"  She  will  be  so  proud  of  you  both,  and  the  love 
you  have  won  here !  "  and  the  poor  soul  sobbed, 
and  did   I  not  sympathize } 

.  .  .  Did  I  ever  tell  you  of  the  Bishop's  present 


Mrs.  Ewings  ''Canada  Homer  143 

to  Rex?  —  two  huge  splendid  volumes  of  Anthems, 
etc.,  by  Purcell  and  others,  published  by  the 
Motet  Society,  with  an  inscription  in  the  first 
page,  — 

"To  Alexander  Ewing,  from  his  sincere  friend,  John 
Fredericton.  In  remembrance  of  many  happy  hours 
spent  in  the  Service  of  the  Church  of  God." 

I  am  very  proud  of  it,  and  it  is  a  valuable  work 
in  many  ways. 


144  Leaves  from 


Letter  to  Major  Ewiitg  after  the  passing  away 
of  his  beloved  wife,  in   1885. 

Fredericton, 
St.  John  Baptist's  Day,  1885. 

My  dear  Major  Ewing,  —  I  hope  I  need  not 
assure  you  of  our  true  sympathy  under  the  heavy 
affliction  you  have  sustained,  and  our  heartfelt 
sorrow  for  a  loss  felt  by  thousands  besides  our- 
selves. We  have  long  feared  that  your  dear  wife 
would  break  down  under  the  mental  strain  of 
writing  what  gave  such  infinite  pleasure,  not  only 
to  children,. but  to  grown  persons,  and  yet  we  felt 
sure  that  it  was  a  fire  that  could  not  be  restrained, 
and  that  the  mind  of  true  genius  would  consume  the 
frail  body.  We  have  followed  as  well  as  we  could 
every  step  as  mourners,  and  through  the  "  Guar- 
dian "  we  seemed  to  be  part  of  the  procession  and 
to  bear  a  bunch  of  flowers,  though  the  wide  sea 
rolls  between  us.  I  never  pass  the  little  white 
cottage  without  thinking  of  you  both  as  we  all 
sat   down    to   read   a  chapter  in    Hebrew,  and    we 


Mrs.  Ewings  "  Canada  Homer  145 

shall    never   have    again    one    to    lead    us    in    the 
choir  as  you  used  to  do. 

We  have  had  two  other  losses  of  dear  friends 
this  year,  —  one  most  distressing,  Col.  F.  Strang- 
ways,  and  by  the  last  mail  we  hear  of  the  death  of 
Archdeacon  Woolcombe,  an  old  Exeter  friend.  Our 
circle  is  indeed  narrowing  to  a  very  small  space. 
Will  you  accept  our  kind  love  and  sympathy,  and 
please  to  convey  the  same  to  her  sister,  who,  I 
understand,  is  still  with  you,  and  believe  me 

Your  sincere  friend,  John  Fredericton. 


MRS.    EWING  S    TOMB    AT    TRULL. 

"  .  .  //  is  the  good,  and  not  the  great  things,  of  my  life  that  bring 
me  peace :  or,  rather,  neither  one  tior  the  other,  but  the  itndeserved 
mercies  of  my  6"^^^  /  "  —  Friederich's  Ballad. 


■vlK'.- 


